Teen Titans: The Chosen
by Glensather
Summary: [No knowledge of crossover anime required]. The Titans' worlds are turned upside down when they are introduced to the Chosen, pilots of giant mecha known as Evangelions, to protect humanity against beings known as Angels.
1. Misato::otasiM

**Life has returned to Normal,**

**But sometimes, Life throws a monkey wrench into Normal.**

_**Teen Titans: The Chosen**_

There were six Titans. It didn't seem like it, but even Starfire said that there were six Titans (not counting Terra, of course).  
The first, of course, was Robin. He was training in the gym the day they appeared.  
The second was Cyborg. He was trying to teach Starfire the intricacies of basketball the day they appeared.  
The third? Why, yours truly, of course. I was pestering Raven when they appeared.  
The fourth was Raven herself. She was with me outside, trying really hard not to throw me off the edge of the tower.  
The fifth was Starfire. She accidentally dunked the basketball through the hoop and the first two levels of the tower.  
The Sixth Titan? Well, that's what this story is about.

This is… an odd story. You might want to sit down for this one. It's… well, it began on that day; it was just a normal, happy-go-lucky day… I remember everything about it, especially the fun I was having. It's ironic, because what happened in our lives following that day would both be happy… and not so much with the happy. Robin should tell this story, now that I think about it; he was there during a lot of it, and he can tell it a lot better than I. But he wasn't there when the BIG stuff happened; it was only me, Rae, and _them_.

I know what you're thinking: "Awww, so does that mean you and Raven cuddled and held hands during those BIG moments?" Uh… no. It means that during those moments Raven and I were locked in fights for our lives.

This is the story of the… the Children. Those damn, heroic, god-forsaken, neglected, traumatized, and hopeless Children who saved the world. They saved the world fifteen times. They did it fighting alongside me and the other Titans.

Yeah, you might want to get something to drink for this. And some chips; chips are nice. Some pizza couldn't hurt either. I'd love to drag Rae in for this story, but she's a little… unraveled, right now. I guess we all are.

You see, it started on that beautiful day: the clouds were fluffy, the sun bright and burning…

-

**In the Year 2015 AD**

…and the two jets that roared overhead, big-as-Christ ships with plenty of Eagle escort; a dozen jets doing fly-bys of the area as the two behemoth ships made their way toward the nearest airport. It wasn't hard to miss their cargo, either, but it was hard to figure out what it was; they hung from girders shaped like crosses on the bottom of the jet, two huge objects that could be at least 200 feet tall, the way they hung. I and the others couldn't help but to gape at the jets as they roared overhead, sending plumes of exhaust through the air. The exhaust fell right on the Tower, causing me to shrivel up like a prune when the stench filled my nostrils. Cyborg, lucky guy, just filtered it out, while both Rae and Starfire began to cough.

"Man, that's _nasty!_" I groaned. "That's worse than Cy's stinkballs!" Raven groaned and threw a black bubble around herself and me (but only because I was right there), and soon I could breathe "normal" air for what it was. Meanwhile, Starfire promptly removed herself from the building's roof, while Cyborg tried to see just what kind of cargo that the jets were carrying. A radar-dish came out of his shoulder as he peered through the smog trail at the jets.

Meanwhile, I managed to regain some normal breath, just as Rae dropped her little bio-dome. The two of us walked up next to Cy, who was only staring after the jets in confusion.

"So…" Raven began. "What kind of jet lets off enough exhaust to choke someone to death?" She looked at Cyborg.

"The kind that needs to carry big things," he told her, shutting down his radar-dish thingy. "C-21 Geist-class transports. I don't know what they're carrying, but those jets are putting out enough thrust to put a shuttle into orbit," I briefly imagined the T-Ship… Sub… whatever, those few times we've went off into space on some random adventure. Meanwhile, Cyborg looked at Raven. "Did Robin mention anything special coming in? You know, something Slade might be after?" Raven shook her head.

"It's probably just an oversized cargo jet," she said. "We're making too big a deal out of this. Come on, it's safer to breathe _in _the Tower," she turned and walked for the roof hatch/door whatever, opening it and going through, leaving it open for us.

"She's probably right," Cyborg agreed. "We've had nothing to do in so long, I guess it was just a matter of time before we start to suspect everything," I nodded.

"Yeah," I said. "Besides, what could be so important on a lousy jet? They carrying some kind of weapon?"

"Maybe. But let's not worry about it. I'm up for pizza!" Cyborg beamed and ran off, heading through the door/hatch and slamming it behind him. Now it was just me on the Tower roof, looking at the jets as they faded from view.

"Yeah… let's not," I said. Something pulled at me, something like an instinct, to run or fly or swim after those jets, but I ignored it, pushed it down. Cyborg was right; pizza would be good about now. I began to make my way to the door/hatch, thinking of a tune I once listened to with Terra. As I walked toward the door, I looked back once more at the jets, now almost completely gone from view. "You know…" I grinned slightly; it had been awhile since I went on a little flight. Why not catch some air?

Smiling, I ran for the edge of the Tower and leaped off. At the apex of my jump, I began to change into a hawk, one of my more favorite air forms. I twisted my body as it melded into a hawk's, and by the time I had fallen halfway down the tower I was in a steep dive. I spread my wings and caught a passing breeze, leveled out, and screeched. The adrenaline rush hit my body like a sledgehammer, my uber-hawk eyes winked at the bright light, and I flew. You've never experienced flying, my dear listener, until you've flown as a hawk; the experience alone is enough to bring any flyboy to tears.

I went into a lazy circle around the Tower, flying onward and upward. I noticed things a human wouldn't have seen without study; the cracks along the tower walls, made from countless quakes, were big as ravines to my eyes; the waves lapping up against the island caused crab and shellfish to squirm by; and the fleet of helicopters in the distance-

Wait, that was new. I circled around again and counted. Fifteen helicopters, coming from the direction of the horizon, were rapidly approaching, their steel bodies pointed downward to get max thrust from their rotors. Behind them, four more choppers, these without rotors; instead, two huge jet engines propelled the choppers forward. They were spread out over some three miles, across my entire field of vision and then some. They looked like an invasion force; I could see that each and every helicopter was armed with missile pods underneath their wings.

I was curious now. It's not every day that the city is visited by enough military power to usurp a small nation. I wanted to go and look, but I figured that, when it came to big government matters, you go ask someone who knew. That someone in this case would be Robin.

Landing on the roof again, I morphed back. I glanced in the distance at the chopper fleet, then to where the jets and their Eagles were headed off to, and went inside.

-

As I reached the "command" room of the Tower, I noticed that the others had already gathered. Robin was watching the big screen in front of him as the Tower's cameras locked on to the chopper fleet I was going to ask about loomed closer. Starfire and Raven were chatting idly (Star more than Rae, obviously), while Cyborg sat at a console and typed in keys faster than most men could ever hope to. Raven shot a glance at me, but I ignored it. Instead, I walked up to Robin.

"So what are they?" I asked. "And if you say they're helicopters, I'm going to smack you,"

"Actually, that's all I know right now," Robin admitted. He looked over at me. "The cameras can't see that far, so we'll have to wait until they get closer,"

"Maybe not," Cyborg interrupted. "Just give me a sec… there!" The camera view on-screen suddenly magnified on one of the approaching choppers. I could see all of it clearly, like I was watching it with hawk eyes; the gray steel, the dual jet engines, and the two pilots inside. "Databanks don't have anything like it on file," Cyborg said. "That's odd; my computer has a listing of every military weapon ever made,"

"Maybe it's something new?" Robin suggested. "Look at the two choppers escorting it; those are RAH-66s. Comanches. Those things are top of the line,"

"And I didn't notice them before," Cyborg responded. I watched as he typed in another set of keys way too fast. "There are only four organizations that have Comanche Stealth choppers, and the US Army is one of them,"

"Who are the rest?" I asked.  
"The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, Germany's National Army and some paramilitary research organization called… "Gehirn" or something," Cyborg iterated, reading off a list he must have stored in his head. "I know it's not Germany and Japan, so…"

"So either the Army is deploying forces along with some type of transport chopper," Robin continued. "Or this 'Gehirn' is moving in to the city," I groaned.  
"That's great," I muttered. "So do we go check it out? I mean, we're like 'clearance to enter the city with big weapons' or something, right?" On-screen, the choppers were closer to the tower; in range of point-defense guns, in fact. The bigger things held back while the smaller choppers came in and… began to surround the tower. Wings opened up from their sides, bristling with missiles.

"Oh great," Raven droned, rolling her eyes. "It figures that they'd be gunning for us, too,"  
"Maybe not," Robin replied. "Look there," The choppers turned around, facing _away_ from the tower. Their circle spun slowly around the tower, like some fan – you know, if it were armed to the teeth with Hellfire missiles and rocket pods. "They're… watching for something. But not us," He looked at Cyborg. "What do you think, Cy?"

"I say we send a welcoming party," replied my pal. He winked. "The best kind, too," he grinned. Robin nodded.  
"You're right," he agreed. Looking at me, he said, "Beast Boy, you and Raven go out the main door and say 'hi'," I stifled a groan and nodded, watching as he sweeped the room. "Star, you find a nice hiding spot on the roof. If anything begins to happen, I want you in the air and blasting anything that hovers," Starfire nodded and walked out of the room, both her hands charging with her Starbolts. "Cyborg, stay here and watch them; I want you on the point-defense guns," Cyborg nodded and turned around, leaving me and Raven to face the Boy Blunder.

"And you, oh fearless leader?" I asked snidely. Robin's jaw set firm.  
"I'm going to follow a couple of birds," he said grimly. Folding his cape around himself, he stalked out of the room. "Don't wait up on me, you two; go out there," I watched Robin leave, wondered if I should say something, and stifled it. Instead, I looked at Raven.

"Shall we, my lady?" I asked, only half-mockingly.  
"In your dreams," Raven replied, floating out of the room.  
"You mean nightmares," I shot back, following her.  
"Very funny. Now come on,"

The two of us walked toward the elevator in silence after that. As we stepped in, I stood on the far side and stared at her as she counted the lights as they disappeared, one by one, toward the ground floor.

"We don't even know if there will be anyone _on_ the ground floor," she muttered to herself, completely forgetting about my existence – how typical. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, counting away, leaving me to my thoughts.

I wanted to cry. The silence was… well, too silent. I wanted to yell, scream, something that would get some sort of reaction. But I knew that Raven wouldn't like it, and even if she did say something it would be short, to the point. It was like, like… she was still suppressing her emotions. It was like she still had some secret to hide.

Maybe she's just inept at living. Yeah, that's it. I shrugged and began to hum a tune to myself – very low, so I didn't disturb Her Highness. I tried my best to not look at her, but given that she and I were the most colorful things in the small elevator, my eyes inevitably glanced back at her hooded head. I frowned.

"Take that off," I said sternly. Raven glanced over her shoulder before looking back. There was a "ding" as the elevator doors opened.  
"Excuse me?" she replied, walking out. I walked out then, following her before walking next to her.  
"That hood," I said, gesturing at the offending object. "It's rude to hide your face from our guests," I grinned a toothy grin – God, I was such a dork. But it worked; Raven sighed and flipped back the hood, half-glaring at me. I could see that her heart wasn't into it, though, so she just resigned and continued walking. I grinned impishly.

"Besides, you're much more beaut-"  
"Hush," my mouth snapped shut as the front doors opened, revealing the bright sunlight. I took in a deep breath, taking in the sea air. It was invigorating. Raven just shrugged and wrapped her cloak around herself, walking out into the daylight. We stepped out onto the front step of the walkway, looking up at the sun and the black helicopters that continued circling around the tower. They were almost silent at this distance as we watched them.

Underneath us, we felt a rumble; the underwater gate had opened. We looked down at the water and saw something like a red torpedo skim just under the water's surface, breaking the waves as it sped toward the city; Robin and his R-Cycle were in that pod, just like he had planned.

One of the larger jet/helicopters lowered itself, throwing clouds of water and dust into the air. It hovered over its little spot as a ramp was lowered. The copter's side door opened.

It was at that very moment, right then, which I realized; we were in for an adventure.

-

**Episode:01  
Misato**

**- **

Out she stepped.  
You wouldn't suspect her of anything at first. She looked like any woman, really; her long hair brushed in front of her face, forcing her to push it out of the way of her hazel eyes. Her countenance beamed optimism as she smiled and walked toward us, stopping only to look back and yell something at the chopper. Whatever it was got through, as the chopper began to remove itself from mine and Raven's sight, going high into the air.

As she began walking toward us again, I got a good look at the rest of her. She wore a red/orange flight jacket (with beret to match) over a black blouse and miniskirt that rode _just_ low enough to be legal. She had really nice, long legs dressed with pantyhose and black high heels. A cross dangled from a necklace. And she had a honkin' big set of-

But I won't go there. This woman was _hot._ H-O-T.  
Somewhere along the line, I wondered if her hair was really purple.  
The rest of the line, I just gawked.

She walked up to us and bowed low. Raven and I bowed in return. The three of us stood up straight at the same time. There was a slight pause as I looked over at Raven, who cleared her throat.

"Uhm… hi," she began slowly. "My name's Rach… Raven, of the Teen Titans. I'm please to meet you, Ms…"  
"Katsuragi Misato," came the reply. The woman was definitely Asian – her eyes and accent proved it - but her English was flawless. "Wait; no… it's the other way around here. I'm Misato Katsuragi, public relations representative of the paramilitary research organization Gehirn, and I'm pleased to meet you as well, Miss Raven," she looked at me and smiled a little brighter. "And you must be the famous Beat Boy, as well?" I swear, weaker men would have melted at that smile.

"Y-yes, Ms. Katsuragi," I stuttered.  
"Ahh, Misato is fine," she told me. "The same goes for you, Miss Raven," she looked around briefly. "So, this is the Titans' Tower," she chuckled. "You know, you guys are really popular where I'm from,"

"That's because there's this psycho rock group throwing our names all over the place," Raven muttered. "But anyway, let's not be rude, Beast Boy," she stepped to the side and gestured inside the tower. "If you like, you may come inside, Miss Misato," she didn't smile, but she wasn't frowning; her face was completely neutral. Misato smiled and stepped inside, absent-mindedly taking off her shoes in the process. Raven followed her in, and I followed Raven.

"Wow, this room is so big!" Misato shouted, staring up and down the room. "This is bigger than my apartment back home!"  
"Impressive, isn't it?" came a voice from the elevator's direction. We all looked to see Cyborg, grinning broadly. "Yeah, yeah, I know what Rob said, but why listen to him?"  
"Uh… because it's our 'job'?" Raven asked sardonically… wow, I can't believe I know that word. She shrugged. "Men, I swear,"

"I hear ya, sister," Misato piped up, winking at Raven. She looked back at Cyborg – and I swear she almost squealed with delight. She ran up and began to poke all of his mechanical parts. "Wow, this is just as advanced as HQ's top stuff! Tell me, what does this do?" Misato grabbed Cyborg's left arm, staring at the console.

"Oh, that?" Cyborg asked, obviously enjoying the attention. Raven and I exchanged glances. "This is just the ultimate PDA; controls the tower, the vehicles, everything in one machine," he beamed.

"But what about security?"  
"Girl, only one thing's ever hacked me," he looked at me. "And that was an inside job, wasn't it BB?"  
"Dude, I'm _sorry_, okay?!" I shouted defensively. "Besides, that was a long time ago!" I looked at Raven, who only shrugged. I noticed that she was staring intensely at the newcomer.

"She's acts happy as Starfire is," she commented. She began walking back outside; I followed her, confused.  
"What do you mean?" I asked.  
"I sense a lot of pain in her," Raven explained, glancing over her shoulder. "A troubled past… and more skeletons in the closet than me or you," she glanced at me. "Maybe… a lost love?" I paused… I swore Raven had just taken a rim shot at me.

"H-hey!" I shouted, chasing her down. I looked back at Misato and Cyborg as the door closed. Instantly, Raven pulled her communicator off her belt and opened it. That weird Star Trek beep came from it.

"Robin, this is Raven," she said to it. Robin's face appeared, wearing a helmet. "We've made contact with… I guess a representative of theirs. She calls herself Misato Katsuragi,"

"Katsuragi?" Robin echoed.  
"That's what I said,"  
"Very funny. Katsuragi… that sounds familiar," Robin paused. "No matter. Recall Star off the roof and bring her in. Watch her, get what you can out of her, and I'll return after I find these jets. Got it?" Raven nodded. "All right, then. Robin out," Raven closed the com and sighed, looking over at me.

"BB, can I trust you with something?" she asked me suddenly. I was caught off guard by the question, but nodded. "If something happens – and I'm _not_ saying something will – watch me, okay?"

"Uhh… sure, Raven,"  
"I'm _serious,_" Raven emphasized. "I've had a bad feeling since those jets passed overhead a while ago," she shrugged. "I think maybe I'm just losing it, but still,"

"Raven, girl, you've been losing it since I met you,"  
"Whatever," she glanced at me.  
"I said I would, Rae,"  
"…all right," she turned around and opened the com again. "Starfire,"

There was a crackle.

"Yes, sister Raven?"  
"Come on back,"  
"Okay,"

The com closed. I stared at Raven as she placed the com back on her belt.  
"That was short," I commented as the door opened again.  
"I didn't feel like hearing her right now," Raven replied, rubbing her temples as we walked into the empty room. "Cause Lord knows we'll be hearing her for the next few hours," she twisted her face into a mock Tamaranian smile. "Oh, dear friend, how much I enjoy your company!" Raven clasped her hands together and sighed.

"Oh, now that was low," I told her as she smirked at me. "Even for you,"  
"But it's truth," was the reply. I opened my mouth to defend Star, but then closed it. I couldn't think of a reply.

I simpered.

"Good boy," with that, Raven stalked off ahead of me. I followed behind like a dog.  
"Damn… beautiful… girl…." I muttered to myself.  
"What was that?"  
"Nothing,"  
"I thought so," there was a pause as we entered the elevator. "Remember, you have a girlfriend,"

The elevator doors closed.

-

We stepped into the Command Room in time to see Starfire tackle-hug our guest.  
"She is beautiful!" beamed the alien girl. Misato looked shocked and confused.  
"Uh… thanks?" she managed to get out as Starfire pulled herself off of the older woman. Misato coughed and adjusted her miniskirt before taking off her beret. "So this is where all the command decisions of the legendary Titans are made, hm?"

"Sort of," Cyborg began. He walked over to his computer. "It's more like a briefing room, really. Mostly, Robin and Raven make the briefings together, then we go at it. Most of the time, though, what we do is as spontaneous as the villains we fight," he walked back to the center. "Maybe when we get a few more members, we can get something like a bridge crew, but for now, no dice,"

"I understand," Misato said, nodding. "I work with over a thousand members of staff, but I really have command over… five," she chuckled. "But then, two may be all I need,"  
"Oh? And what's that mean?" Cyborg asked.  
"It doesn't matter," Misato replied. "Speaking of command, though, where's your fearless leader?" Cyborg and Raven exchanged glances.  
"He's… out, right now," Raven explained, walking up to her and Starfire. "He's scouting the city for anything amiss,"  
"Well, preparation _is_ key to winning a battle," She glanced down at Starfire. "Now, who is this bundle of joy?" Instantly, Starfire brightened from bored to once-again the happiest girl in the universe.

"I am Starfire of Tamaran!" she said, beaming. "And I am very pleased to meet you, Misato!" she giggled. Misato just smiled back, though.  
"It's nice to see something as happy as you," she commented. She glanced over at Raven, who only sighed in resignation.  
"I don't get it, either," she muttered. Misato walked up and whispered something to Raven, who only rolled her eyes and nodded.  
"Don't you agree?" Misato asked.

"I… guess…" she absently grabbed a lock of hair and began to twirl it. "Well, guys, I guess we _could _ take her to the recreation commons,"  
"I agree," I said. Everyone stared at me like I was a ghost. "What? I've been here this whole time," There was a pause. "_What?_"  
"I'd have to say," Cyborg began tentatively. "That's the quietest you've been in a while,"  
"It's a nice change," Raven commented. "Don't you think, Cyborg?"  
"Yeah,"

I groaned as I led Misato across the tower to the rec room.  
"So this is the rec area," I said, waving my hand to the room the others and I had spent at least an hour in each day. "This is where we eat, sit, watch TV, and just hang out. It's like the ultimate dorm room,"

"It's really nice," Misato said, putting her beret on the bar and walking around. She walked over to the large couch and put a hand on it. "May I?"  
"Me casa su casa,"  
"Thanks,"

Misato sat down hard and moaned, stretching her body to a sprawl.  
"This feels so good," she said to me as I walked up and sat next to her. Behind us, Raven and Starfire walked in. "Being on a chopper for hours on end will make your ass sore,"

"Yes, this couch is very comfortable," Starfire said, sitting next to me and crossing her legs. I couldn't help but notice her skirt ride up a little.

God, I'm sorry Robin. I'm so, so sorry. It's hormones, man, I swear.

I fumbled for the TV remote and began to absently flip through channels. Misato sighed and relaxed, melting into the couch. I heard Raven put a kettle of tea on, then the scrape of a metal chair. I glanced back.

"Rae, you're not going to join us?" I asked.  
"Yes, you must participate in the hanging out," Starfire agreed, uncrossing her legs and stretching out. Her skirt rode up a little more.  
"Thanks, but no,"

Her panties were red.

God, I'm really, really sorry, Robin!

I looked away, blushing, at Misato. She was staring right at me this whole time, I realized as I looked at her grinning face. I blushed a bit harder, but Misato just smiled and put a light hand on my head.

"It's okay, kid," she said. "Your secret's safe with me," with that, she relaxed even more, if that were even possible.  
Just then, something rang in my ears; something loud and something painful. Looking around, no one else seemed to notice the noise. I suppressed a gasp and gritted my teeth, standing up and excusing myself. I walked back behind the couch and left the two goddesses sitting there, past Raven, and out into the hall.

But then the noise stopped.  
Groaning, I looked back at Raven. Her violet eyes were going back to their normal shade. Slowly, I crept back toward her.  
"What was that for?" I whispered.

"Don't you think you're being a little… too… nice?" Raven asked. Her eyes were stern.  
"No, why?"

"Think about it," Raven said. She looked back at Starfire and the older woman, and then stood up. She walked over and took a cup, poured herself some tea, and beckoned me. I followed her out of the room, confused. Instead of thinking about it, though, I just stared at Raven's back as we walked some inane distance away.

What does inane mean, anyway?

"Look, Beast Boy," Raven suddenly said, turning around. "We can't just let someone in like this, like we've known them our whole lives,"  
"She seems harmless enough," I replied.  
"Yeah, and Terra was just an ally,"

I winced.

"It's not like she's staying here the whole time," I retorted. "She's just a guest. She's _normal._ We don't have to keep her under lock and key. Not like…" I paused and looked away. "Not like Terra,"

"I know, Beast Boy," Raven replied. I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Look, I know you don't like to talk about it, but we have to face the fact that this building is still in danger as long as she's here. There are choppers with missiles – _missiles_, Beast Boy – floating outside the Tower. What if they turn on us? What if she gives the command to shoot? Do you want to die?"

"Maybe I do!" I yelled back, surprised at my own outburst.

Time seemed to lock itself. I glared at Raven as she seemed to… to _wither_ under my gaze.

"I'm sorry," Raven finally said. I watched as she pulled up her hood and walked off, leaving me alone as she ran off to her room. Turning around, I sighed and walked back to the rec room.

I felt like a complete ass.

-

**Teen Titans: The Chosen**

**Episode:01  
Misato**

**- **

A couple of hours passed. I don't know how many, but I know they passed. I know because at one point the choppers disappeared and Cyborg joined us. I also know because Robin came home and introduced himself, while at the same time telling us that he found out nothing about where the Eagles and the big flying-wing jets disappeared to. But I wasn't paying attention. You see, my eyes were filled with one thing.

Misato.

God, she was beautiful. She knew it, too.  
I watched her from a distance as Robin and she talked about – rather, as he interrogated her – on where the jets were.

"Jets? You mean the airliners?"  
"Yeah. With the cargo, Miss Katsuragi,"  
"I don't know. They aren't with _my_ unit. I don't have jurisdiction over our jet forces,"  
"Then what _do_ you do?"

There was a pause. Misato and Robin stared each other down.

"That's classified,"  
"Classified, my ass,"

Starfire and I looked at each other and exchanged glances. The tension was building as the silence grew in the room. I took a step from my original position at the table and backed away. Robin continued glaring at Misato, while Misato looked down impassively at Robin. Starfire hugged an arm and backed away, while Cyborg suddenly decided that looking out the window was a good idea.

Suddenly, Misato's cell phone rang. The woman picked it up gingerly and answered it.

"Yeah? Oh, hey! Yeah, I'm here at the Tower!" Misato smiled for the briefest of moments before her face turned solemn all of a sudden. The change came so suddenly that I had to do a double-take to see if I saw what I was seeing. "So they've made it safely? That's good. No, no, I'll go get them both," there was a pause. "Yes, I know. It's part of my job. Besides, my car's with them," Another pause. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. "Yeah, I'm on my way now. I'll have them take me. Ja," Misato hung up the phone and turned around, staring at us.

"I have a favor to ask of you," she began.  
"Oh, no," Robin interrupted. "Not until you tell me what for," Misato's face faltered for a second before she composed herself.  
"I'm just going to pick up a couple of kids, that's all," she paused, looking for the right words. "They're my boss's kids, you see,"  
"Then he can go get them," Robin replied. Misato winced. Anyone could tell she was looking for a way out.

"Okay, okay," she said, cornered. "Only one of them is his child, though the other one may as well be," she paused for a beat. "They are… special…"

"Special?" I echoed. "Do you mean like…" I thought briefly. "Special Olympics special? Or do you mean, sword-wielding hero with control over the forces of destruction and creation, calls it myrk, and can't speak, but kicks so much ass it doesn't matter?"

"Uhh… neither," Misato said slowly, staring at me. "And just what kind of idea is that, anyway?"  
"A good one," I responded. Misato rolled her eyes.  
"Oh… kay…" she said hesitantly. She looked at Robin. "Look, you'll get to see them anyway. Please, just take me there,"

There was a pause.

Suddenly, the Tower's alarms went off. I perked up, getting into battle mode. Cyborg lifted his arm and powered on his console.  
"There's an attack going on at the airport," he read. "Security cameras _think_ they caught a glimpse of…" Cyborg groaned.  
"Slade," Robin said, his voice in a growl.  
"Dude, what could he possibly want in an airport?" I asked.

There was the sound of silence.

All eyes turned to Misato. The young woman blinked.

"Who is… Slade?" she asked, confused.  
"Only the ultimate super villain," Robin told her, sending the summons code to Raven. Surprisingly, Misato chuckled.

"Can't be as bad as my boss," she commented, looking at us. "…You think he's after his kids?"  
"I wouldn't doubt it," Robin growled. Raven floated into the room about then, looking at us. "All right, the party's assembled," He went into his leader mode again. "Beast Boy, you and Raven warp to the airport. You'll be our advance force. Starfire, you and I will fly there; I'll use my glider. Cyborg, take Miss Katsuragi in the T-Car and meet up with us. By the time you get there, I think Slade will have shown himself," he took a breath. "Remember, he's stronger than ever,"

"A big ass axe does not make you stronger," Cyborg said off-handedly.  
Wow, I'm just fill of syn… synon… you know, those words that mean other words.

"Remember what he did to Trigon's horns?" Robin reminded us. I winced; my body still hurt from that fight.

"Good point,"

Robin looked at us all before nodding.

"Titans, go!"

-

Traveling through space-time warp Hell is never a fun experience. Given the mood I had put Raven in earlier (it was an accident, I swear!), it seemed to be an even bumpier ride. Thankfully, these things never last long, and before we knew it, we were standing in the middle of an airport terminal.

It was complete chaos. Slade's robot henchmen ran rampant throughout the airport – there must have been hundreds of them. They attacked man and machine alike, never killing but always injuring, always hurting someone. They would pounce on people, stare at them in an intimidating fashion, and then move on. Raven and I looked at each other.

"This… sucks," I said simply.

"I couldn't agree more," Raven replied. She grabbed an android in mid-air with her telekinesis, a black field encompassing it, and tossed it lightly into a group of robots. The machines crumpled into their component parts. I grinned before remembering that I had a job to do to; I was a Titan, after all.

I turned my body into that of the ultimate anti-Slade machine; the Velociraptor. I screeched and pounced on a robot, tearing out its CPU with my talons, before leapfrogging to another robot and pulling off a similar tactic.

You see, the thing about these robots: They aren't very smart. You can pretty much use the same tactic on them over and over again until they die. Their only purpose was to tire us out, which they performed admirably. And as I leapt on a third one and Raven crushed a small group of them, I knew that this wouldn't be a hard mission, but a long and tiring one. I wondered if Slade was planning something.

Silly boy. Slade's _always_ planning something. He's Slade. The ultimate arch-enemy. And apparently, now he kidnaps children.

I would have gasped if I had a voice box. The kids! I had to find them!

I swung around, tail whipping a robot into a hunk of metal. I darted my eyes around, looking for two important-looking children. In the mess of the airport as people continued to evacuate (or in some of our fans' cases, cheer us on), everyone from middle-American parents to business CEOs were flocking around.

Well, maybe they were Asian, like Misato. That narrowed it down to about… a whole bunch of people.

Well, they ARE kids, I bet, if she has to come get them. That's still a hella lot of people.

I turned around and ripped out a robot's "throat" out of spite. Raven almost casually tossed another robot through the air.

I turned into a human briefly and shook my head. "Dude, this is taking way to long! They'll find the kids before we-" I would have finished, had an explosion not rocked my world. I was thrown on my ass, and Raven on hers… and every single other person in the airport.

There was silence as I stood up uncertainly. Raven did the same, stared at the robots around her, and shrugged. I stepped around some from where I thought the explosion might have come from. I went up the escalator, went around a couple of robots, and rounded a corner.

It was then I saw them.

One of them was unconscious. A small trickle of blood came out of his mouth as he lay on the floor. His clothes were formal, like a school uniform. He looked about 15 or so – my age – and the satchel next to his side revealed something written in some foreign language. Most likely, it was Japanese.

The second one was standing up, her back to me. The first thing I noticed was the large sphere made of hexagons that seemed to encase them. Around the circle, robots were destroyed in various ways, almost as if they just threw themselves at the field. Looking closer, I noticed that in some cases the robot was in two halves, one of either side of the sphere.

It was like the sphere had cut them in two.

I then looked at her. From what I could see, she had short, Raven-length sky blue hair and pale skin. She also wore something akin to a school uniform; a blue dress and skirt. As I stared at her, the girl seemed to tense. I watched as she slowly turned and twisted her body, standing sideways to me.

A pair of crimson eyes looked at me from behind the field. They blinked once, twice, three times. And then, she raised her arm. The field concentrated into a single hexagon and propelled itself forward.

Forward, right into me.

**To be Continued…**

_The Titans meet the Chosen, two children with an extraordinary ability; the power to control and move the Titan robots known as Evangelions. As Beast Boy and the others fight off Slade one more time, they learn a few of the shadow organization Gehirn's secrets through the children, and realize that there is something major going on. Next on Teen Titans: The Chosen – The Children/Evangelion_

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, blah, blah, blah.  
I don't own GAiNAX's anime, and so on and so forth.


	2. The Chosen::Evangelion

**Remember what I said about monkey wrenches and Life?**

**Well, Normal just got its ass handed to it, then was tossed out a window.**

_**Teen Titans: The Chosen**_

Red… eyes…  
Bright red eyes… eyes devoid of emotion…  
Almost as if they didn't have a soul behind them…

They frightened me… her eyes frightened me…  
I remember looking into them and losing myself…

Heh… since when did I become afraid of a pair of eyes?

I guess, in a way, they reminded me of Trigon. However, they weren't completely red.  
No, they were normal shape and all… but her eyes were red.

Red. The color of blood.

God… blood! Blood, everywhere!

_Oh God!_

_**Oh God!**_

I crossed my arms over my face and screamed as I felt the hexagon slam into me. The wind was knocked out of me, and somewhere in my mind I knew that my left arm had just been snapped like a twig. I was tossed back some thirty feet at least, but thanks to a window my rapid departure from the battle area was softened. I heard a distinct crack as my back met the window, and before I could wonder if it had been broken, I fell toward the ground.

But I never hit the ground. Instead, I felt something grab me by the collar. Hoisted up by my shirt, I groaned in both annoyance and pain as I looked to my left so I could look at the face of who had me by my shirt. I caught a flash of black and copper, along with an axe the size of the man wielding it, before I looked ahead and sighed defeat… and winced.

Of course, it was Slade. As usual, it always turned out to be Slade. My life must hate me.

"What… do you… want…" I managed to get out, blinking slowly. I looked at my arm and saw that it was bent unnaturally a little beyond halfway. I resisted the urge to vomit and looked ahead as the shimmering hexagon disappeared, leaving nothing between the girl… and my captor.

"Beast Boy!" I heard, and a thought in my head registered that the voice belonged to Raven. I didn't bother trying to look up – it hurt too much – and instead listened to the happenings. "…Slade…"

"Who else but me?" asked the cold villain. His arm twitched, sending a shiver through my body, but I tried my damndest to ignore it. Not that it did much good; it still _hurt_, and I wasn't exactly what you'd call pain-tolerant. In fact, it was quite the opposite with me.

"What do you want here?" Raven shouted/asked, and I could hear the familiar hum of her energy crackling through the air as she prepared to fight a battle she couldn't hope to win alone. Part of me was sad; everyone knew that it took the five of us together just to drive Slade off. However, another part of me was elated; after all, Raven was saving me… as if she cared for me! I felt the slight twinge of a smile at the thought.

"Just the girl and boy," Slade pointed out, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Your friend here is just a bonus I'm giving to myself,"

Oh great… I'm not important enough to be the trophy, just the bonus thrown in. You know, like holiday pay or something.

"You can't have him!" Raven shouted. The hum grew louder as the girl began chanting the words of power that she always did before she cast a spell. I closed my eyes, knowing that the next few seconds were probably going to hurt.

"Please," Slade said, and his arm flicked again. This time, he hurled me through the air, off to the side, sending me crashing into a row of chairs. If I had the energy, I would have screamed. But I didn't, so I wouldn't. Instead, I just tried to sit up and groaned when I realized that I could barely sit up.

See? I told you the next few seconds were going to hurt. And they did; _bad_.

-

**Episode: 02  
The Children**

A black energy field hurled toward Slade, but the villain was too good for a simple attack like that. He dodged out of the way in a blink, sending the energy blast through the window, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Glass shards flew everywhere, and some bounced off Slade's armor. Grunting, he picked up his axe and charged Raven. I watched as Raven put a black shield around herself almost a second too late; the axe met the shield barely an inch from Raven's nose.

A battle of wills started. Raven's shield pushed against Slade's axe, keeping the two locked into a duel that would more than likely end with Raven split down the middle. I tried to get up, to fight Slade and save Raven, but my body wasn't having it. I moved barely an inch before my back spasmed and sent waves of pain through my body. I collapsed and groaned, too hurt to scream.

I became suddenly aware that I was being watched. Looking up, I saw the pale, blue-headed girl looking down at me. Her expression betrayed no thought or emotion as she knelt down and put a hand on my cheek. For the briefest moment, I thought I saw regret in her crimson eyes, but then just as suddenly it was gone.

"…Gomen," she said. I realized that she was speaking Japanese, but part of me seemed to understand her. It seemed to me, at least, that she was apologizing. For a second, I wondered what for, until another spasm coursed through my body.

Oh, right; _that_. The blast of whatever it was that put me in this condition in the first place.

The girl stood up and looked at the heated duel going on. Slowly, she lifted a hand and pointed at Slade. From my position on the ground, I could still see her eyes as they flashed a bright red. About five feet in front of us, another hexagon of light shimmered into existence before launching forward, twisting in shape to fit Slade's general height.

If I could have, I would've grinned as Slade twisted his head, his eye widening before the hexagon slammed into him, launching him back several feet and slamming him into a column, shattering it. Slade quickly recovered, and stood up with his axe, ready to fight back. However, a dozen green motes of light appeared from outside the window, streaking toward our enemy. Slade deflected a few with his axe before leaping out of the way, his dive sending him further back into the airport.

Starfire flew in and landed nimbly, launching an eye blast at Slade. Forced suddenly on the defensive, Slade was backed up against the far window on the floor. As Starfire cut the beam off, however, he set up another fighting position.

Robin glided in a split second later, ditching the glider and drawing his Bo staff in one swift roll. He stood up and glared at Slade, quickly shifting into a counter-stance to Slade's stance.

"Cavalry's here," he said to us, never taking his eyes off of his rival.  
"You're late," Raven deadpanned. "Beast Boy went and broke some vital bones,"

"He will be okay," Starfire growled, arming two more bolts and standing next to Robin. "Right, Beast Boy?" Briefly, the girl turned and smiled at me as the blue-haired girl helped me get into a sitting position, leaning against a chair leg. Slowly, I gave her a thumbs-up.

"Alright, BB, stay with the girl," Robin ordered. "Raven, you ready?"  
"Yeah," Raven returned, grabbing hold of some poor sap's luggage before moving forward. "Let's do this,"  
"Cyborg is still five minutes away," Starfire said as the three closed in on Slade. "We must fight carefully until then,"

Suddenly, the three charged, sending bolts, suitcases, and shuriken at Slade. As they moved out of vocal range, I could only guess at Robin's orders and the girls' replies as I watched them engage in a classic Slade vs. Titans fight. A part of me regretted being able to help them, but what could I do? Right now, I could stare Slade to death; I wasn't exactly in perfect fighting form.

Wincing, I looked at my broken arm before twisting my head to look at the girl sitting next to me, watching the fight without the first hint of emotion in her eyes. I wondered if she was going to join them and use her freaky hexagons on Slade, but dismissed it; this girl didn't seem like a fighter to me. All of her actions seemed to be based purely on impulse and instinct, not a desire to actually fight.

"…H-hey," I croaked. It hurt to speak, I realized, but then, it hurt to do anything. "…What's your name?" Slowly, the girl tore her eyes away from the battle and looked at me, her head slightly sideways as she considered me. Briefly, the girl looked into my eyes, and I looked into hers, before she turned and continued watching the fight.

"…" she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, she stood and walked over to the other one; the boy that she was with, I noted. The girl bent down and lifted him up, putting an arm around her shoulders and walking him over next to me. The boy stirred and slowly opened his eyes as the blue-haired girl sat him down next to me.

"…A-arigato," he stuttered, wiping his nose and staring disgustedly at the blood. The boy wiped off his hand on his pants and looked at me, as if suddenly noticing I was there. I looked at him as he looked at me; short black/brown hair, quiet disposition, and sad, deep blue eyes. He half-grinned at me before leaning back against the chair. "Konnichiwa," he said to me, though he wasn't looking at me.

"H-hello," I got out, wincing as my lungs ached with pain. "What's… your name?" The boy looked back at me in an eerie reflection of the blue-haired girl before returning his eyes to the fight. I also watched as Robin ducked a swing and came up hard with the staff, almost shattering it against Slade's helmet.

"My… name?" the boy said in English. "My name… is Shinji Ikari,"

"Shinji… Ikari?" I echoed. The boy nodded, and gestured toward the girl, who stood next to him and stared out at the fight as well.  
"She is… Rei Ayanami," he said. Upon hearing her name, the girl – Rei – looked down at us. She looked at Shinji and for more than a moment, a look of deep concern was in her eyes. Shinji just shook his head, and as if she understood, the albino girl started walking slowly toward the battle, raising an arm into the air as she walked.

"Watch this," he said to me. Rei brought her arm down in one sweep, and a piercing echo came from her body. A hexagonal bolt of light shot forward, passed through Raven and Starfire, and slammed right into Slade. Instead of disappearing like the previous ones, this one held as it pushed Slade backward, up against a window. Behind him, the glass started to crack.

I gaped at the sight, but Shinji just smiled.  
"She's good at that," he mused. I looked at him slowly, but the boy just shook his head. "She's special… like that, you see,"  
"What… what do y-you mean?" I said, wincing.

"Like… me, she's a Child," he explained. "However, unlike… me, she can control… her own Field," I opened my mouth to continue asking questions, but I heard the sound of shattering glass. Looking over, I saw Slade's body disappear from sight. Rei simply turned around and started back toward Shinji and me. Robin and the others looked down as Slade and the Boy Wonder exchanged words, but then just as suddenly they turned around and started back toward us. I looked up and smiled at my companions as they approached us.

"Well, thanks to some unexpected help," Raven began. "Slade's run off for the day and took his robots with him. It seems he's not given up on these two, though," she gestured toward Shinji and Rei. "So… are these them?"

"Them?" Shinji echoed.  
"We were sent to retrieve and protect you under Miss Katsuragi came," Robin explained.  
"Katsuragi?" Shinji said. "You mean, Misato-san?"  
"Yes," Raven said. "So you're definitely the kids we're looking for,"  
"Yes, I am Shinji Ikari," the boy said, pointing to himself. "My companion here is Rei Ayanami. You can call me Shinji, if you wish, but please refer to Rei as Ayanami,"  
"Very well," Robin replied, understanding Japanese culture and its emphasis on names. "Shinji, Ayanami, would you accompany us until Miss Katsuragi returns for you?"  
"Yes," Shinji said, standing up. Rei simply nodded. They then bowed low, and Robin returned it. "Thank you, Robin-san,"

It was strange, I realized, as I heard Shinji speak Robin's name. Everyone knows us, but we don't know anyone.

"Don't mention it," Robin replied, smiling genuinely. It was rare we got to interact with kids around our age. "So… just why would Slade – that was the bad guy – be after you guys?"

"Probably something to do with the people we… work for," Shinji said, his countenance darkening slightly. Rei suddenly looked alive and stared at Shinji, but he just looked at her and said, "It's okay," Stopping dead, Rei just nodded and went back to her original neutral stance.

"So… will you tell us about this… Gehirn?" Robin asked. "Katsuragi wasn't exactly forthcoming with information," Shinji nodded.  
"I understand," he said. "As protectors of this city, you should have a right to know, more than anyone, I guess," Raven quirked an eyebrow as Shinji sat down, while Robin took a seat on the floor.

"We are… special," Shinji began. "Like you guys, but on a different degree," he smirked. "Me and Rei are a product of, well, fate," he looked up at Robin. "Have you ever heard of Second Impact?"

"…yes, I think so," Robin said after a moment. "In the year 2000, a scientific expedition – the Katsuragi expedition – went to Antarctica to research… something… but a meteor hit the continent and wiped out everything there. I remember that the government still has it under wraps,"

"Well, that's because your story isn't true," Shinji said. Rei put a hand on his shoulder as he continued. "The real story behind Second Impact is something else entirely," he paused. "In the year 2000, the Katsuragi Expedition found _something_ down there, all right. They found… the first human," he looked Robin in the eye. "They found Adam,"

I blanched at the words while it was Robin's turn to quirk an eyebrow. "Adam?" he asked.

"Yes," Shinji affirmed. "Adam… and there, they performed… I think Misato-san called it a "Contact Experiment"… either way; they tried to tap Adam's power, but ended up almost destroying the world. You see, the test awakened Adam and unleashed his energy across the world… or would have, if they hadn't aborted the test,"

"The result was the destruction of the Expedition… however, the greater result was that it awakened something that had been sleeping in the earth for billions of years,"

"…_shito,"_ Rei whispered. For some reason, that name alone feared me and the others with dread; Robin shifted on his feet, Starfire shuddered, and Raven stared impassively – or she would have liked you to think, but I had known her long enough to see the quiver of emotion that shook her body.

"Messengers?" Robin translated for us.  
"That's what Misato-san calls them," Shinji explained. "They and the rest of Gehirn have code-named them the Shito, but… I guess in English you would call them… "Angels","

"I'm well-aware of how to define it in English," Robin said. Shinji flinched as if he had been slapped, but otherwise did nothing. Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my attention to the pale blue-haired girl as she walked over to the edge of the terminal, looking out to the runway… almost picturesque…

"I'm not entirely sure how to explain it otherwise," Shinji told us. "In fact, all I know is secondhand information from Misato… and I only met her a week ago," he nodded to the girl. "Ayanami knows more here than anyone, but she's under orders to not divulge information," he chuckled. "I don't even know _how_ I'm supposed to use what I have to stop them, or what they look like, or anything like that… so I'm only a little more in the light than you guys are," he offered a sad smile. "But I guess that's okay, right?"

"Not really," Raven replied suddenly. "Not knowing your enemy is dangerous," she paused. "Especially when the enemy can destroy the world…"  
"It's not like I choose to not know," Shinji said quickly. "I just- Akagi-san told me it's on a "need-to-know" basis, and I don't need to know," he searched for the words. "Only four people know what's going on, I think,"

"Who's that?" Robin prodded, kneeling.  
"Ayanami over there, as I've said," Shinji said. "Doctor Akagi knows… so does Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki… and…" looking down, Shinji almost mumbled the last part. "…my father…"

"You… don't like him?" I rasped, then regretted it. Raven walked up to me and started too slowly and silently cast a spell, in an effort to both heal me and understand what was going on. Shinji just looked down at a spot on the floor and said nothing for a moment.

"It… it's not that I don't _like_ him," he said slowly. "I mean, I don't _hate_ him… though I really should…" he paused. "Nevermind… Misato-san is here," Looking up, Shinji offered a weak smile as the sound of heels clacking against tile met our ears, followed by a pair of boots.

"Damn, what happened?" Cyborg asked as he looked around, and I felt his eyes lock on to me. "Slade beat the dirt out of you, didn't he?" Misato, meanwhile, walked over to Rei and asked her something… I think. Either way, the girl nodded before walking over to Shinji and checking on him. The boy shuddered at the touch, closed his eyes, and let the girl talk to him. She was so quiet, I couldn't even hear the words.

Not that I could understand them, but you get the point.

"There, all done," Raven said suddenly. I had completely forgotten she was there, and when I turned to face the voice that had spoken to me; I had also run my head right into Raven's. Both of us flinched in pain, and after I blinked, Raven was giving me that "disappointed" look… you know, that blank, empty-looking stare, but you really know you've just hurt her feelings or pissed her off. Yeah, that one.

"Sorry," I muttered, avoiding her gaze and staring at a ruined stack of chairs. "I didn't mean to bean you with my bean."  
"Very funny," Raven said. "Stand up, you should be okay now," she stood and offered a hand, which I took. It was nice when Raven wasn't being totally mad at me for no reason. At least, that's what I think she looks like.

I stretched my bones and grinned. I could feel them, and it didn't hurt, which, you know, is always a good thing. I walked up to Cyborg and nodded at my giant friend. Cy looked down and grinned at me. "You alright?"

"I'll live," I said. "Dunno about the airport, though; looks like its screwed, and bad," I looked around the airport terminal and sighed. As usual, we caused a massive mess in the area, meaning the only people happy were the poor guys hired to clean up and make some quick cash over our mistakes. "What about you?"

"Robin'll probably give us a hard time for letting Slade go," Cyborg told me as we watched Misato approach Robin.  
"Thanks," she said gratefully. "The kids are alright, and that man's been driven off."  
"Now what about our agreement?" Robin asked her, quirking an eyebrow. "Tell me what I want to know." Misato's lovely smile faltered for but a second, but she quickly caught it.

"…What do you want to know?" she inquired. Robin jerked his head toward Shinji and Ayanami.  
"Who are they… more specifically, _what_ are they?"  
"They're children,"  
"I can see that,"

"No, you don't understand," Misato said, shaking her head. "They are Gehirn's First and Third Child, Ayanami Rei and Ikari Shinji-kun, respectively," she gestured. "They are the Chosen, and pilots of mankind's last hope against the greatest enemy we have."

"The… Angels, right?" Raven said, approaching Misato as well. "That's what Shinji said." Misato nodded.

"Yes, the Angels," Misato confirmed, a hint of venom in her voice. "The most vile creatures on the planet, hell-bent on destroying mankind in an event known as Third Impact. Shinji-kun and Rei-chan – they're the only two capable of stopping it," Looking over at the two who talked quietly between themselves, it was my turn to quirk an eyebrow. Those kids, saviors of the planet? What were their hero names, Albino Girl and Normal Boy? I shook my head in confusion.

"And how do you suppose…" Raven began. "That mere kids save the world?"  
"You do it all the time," Misato said, smiling.

"That's different," Raven fired back. "We're _super heroes_. Other than the blue-haired girl, I haven't seen them do anything particularly spectacular, and even that was minute compared to what even Beast Boy can do."

"Hey!" I shouted indignantly.  
"Stifle it," Robin said, and I stifled it. "Misato, explain," The woman only smiled that beautiful smile, though.

"Our secret weapon," she said. "The Evangelions." Robin opened his mouth to ask what I was thinking, but a gasp knocked us out of the conversation.

"Friends, look!" Starfire shouted, and for a moment I wondered how long she had been standing next to me. I almost recoiled in shock, but dropped it and walked up to the window, looking out… and gasping as well.

It was something out of a giant robot anime. Two behemoths kneeled on the runway, their hands resting on the ground on either side of them, except for one, which had an arm resting on a knee. One was purple and green and looked positively evil and badass at the same time, and the other one was orange and seemed to stare at us with its one eye.

"What the hell are those?!" Cyborg shouted.  
"_Those_," Misato replied, obviously proud of herself. "Are the Evangelions."

Oh. I guess _that's_ how they'll become heroes of the planet.

I looked at Robin, who simply stared at the monsters. Under his mask, his eyes were wide… with shock or fear, I couldn't tell. Cyborg's mouth hung loosely open. Starfire had a hand up to her mouth as she stared at the machines, and I know that my eyes had to be boggling. Only Raven seemed unimpressed; actually, she snorted.

"Those things?" she said, gesturing. "Giant walking toys? How do you expect to fight anything with those ugly things?" Misato frowned at Rae, but kept her cool (I ignored the twitching eye).

"Rei, Shinji-kun," she called over her shoulder. "Show them the power of Eva!"  
"Ryoukai," Ayanami said quietly.

"Hai," Shinji agreed. Taking Shinji by the hand, Rei walked up to the window, looking out at the giant monsters. I stared at the two, wondering if two kids – almost more childish than us – could really be the master pilots of those things. Shinji looked slightly nervous as Rei lowered a hand to her side, palm open… and activated one from here.

The five of us saw the orange one come to life. Its single eye – red, like Rei's – began to glow, and the machine looked up toward the sky and stood… and man, was it _tall_. It towered over the airport, and as it reached its full height I heard Misato gloating something about the monsters being 60 meters tall. I don't have a clue how much 60 meters is, but these things were definitely as taller than Cinderblock or any of those big things we've fought, save maybe Trigon himself.

It was human in shape; very human, in fact. It was a giant human wearing shoulder blades (that's the only way I can describe them), a one-eyed helmet, and orange/white armor. Two huge battery packs connected to the shoulder blades, and on the shoulder itself was a lit phrase that read something like "**EVA-00 PROTOTYPE**"… I wasn't sure, because its upper half almost went out of sight as we watched the thing _walk_ toward us.

Part of me wondered if I could morph into that.

The rest of me just cried.

"Ikari-kun," Rei whispered, and Shinji nodded. Holding her hand tighter, us five Titans watched as Rei _lifted herself into the air._ Flying isn't something normal, but she didn't it so suddenly it was unreal. Coupled with the fact that her clothes and hair didn't move made it all the more surreal, and Shinji hanging from just one arm was also… strange.

The pervert in me snickered; I could see up Rei's skirt.  
Raven sensed this, apparently, and smacked me on the back of the head.  
"Hey!" I said.  
"Pervert," Raven muttered, but I noticed that a slight flush was on her cheeks. I laughed.  
"Ah, you were looking up her skirt, too!" I joked. "Raven's a les-"  
"You won't finish that sentence if you want to live."  
"Uh…"

Shinji and Rei disappeared, and soon we heard something like a hissing sound. There was some sort of quiver as the machine did something, and Cyborg guessed that the two entered the cockpit. Misato smiled at him, and for a minute I felt jealous.

"Half-right," she told Cy. "Rei _is _within Unit-00s entry plug, but Shinji is probably riding on the shoulder."  
"_Evangelion Zerogoki,"_ A voice whispered; Rei's, from the quiet tone. "_Douji sei, no hiritsu, Fifty-Six,"_  
"Synchronization Ratio, 56," Misato translated. "Rei, switch language interface to Japanese and Translation Algorithm to English/Japanese!"  
"…_done."_ Came the reply, in English. _"Captain Katsuragi, orders?"_

"Take Shinji-kun to Unit-01," Misato shouted. "Shinji, synchronize with it and take both to the coordinates listed!"  
"_Roger_," Rei whispered.

"Yes, ma'am!" Shinji shouted from his invisible perch. Unit-00 turned around and walked off, leaving the five of us slightly stupefied. Well… except Raven.  
"Congratulations," she deadpanned. "You've activated a giant robot. Yay." Raven twirled a finger in the air. "You've proven absolutely nothing."  
"She's right," Robin admitted. "It's impressive, no doubt, but you've still not shown us the capabilities of the machine."  
"Well, to be truthful," Misato said slowly. "…I don't know the capabilities of the Evangelion Units."

There was a pause.

-

**Teen Titans: The Chosen**

**Episode: 02  
Evangelion**

"…_what._" Robin said between gritted teeth. Misato gave an embarrassed laugh.

"I'm sorry!" She said. "But when the First Angel attacks Jump City, it'll also be the first field test of the Evangelion Units," she held up a finger. "We know they work, and other than that one time, both Units have functioned admirably in synch tests, among others."

"…At least tell me they have battle experience," Robin whispered. In the distance, we heard Eva Unit-01 activating.

"Nope," Misato said with a smile.

Robin groaned.  
Raven smacked her forehead.  
Cyborg sighed.  
Starfire stared out at the Eva Units.  
And I…

"So… let me guess, another reason you came to us," I said. "You want us to babysit these kids and teach them how to fight, right?"  
"H-how did you know?" Misato asked.  
"Lucky guess," I replied, smirking.  
"But all the papers say… that you're not the smart one," I dropped my jaw.  
"She got you there," Cyborg said.  
"Shut up, dude,"

Eva Unit-01 stood. Unlike Unit-00, this one was like ten feet taller, fifteen or more if you counted the massive horn coming off of its face. It was definitely _human_ in its movements, as well, as the purple/green/black machine as it joined Unit-00 in walking. I paused, stared, and gasped.

"Wait a minute!" I shouted. "That's the direction of the Tower! You don't expect those things to… to _swim_ there, do you?!"

"Actually, they _can_ swim there," Misato iterated. "The Evangelion units are perfectly capable of running and swimming, and once the Mass Production Units get underway, they'll be able to fly as well." Something wasn't adding up in my head as Misato talked; why send _kids_ to do a man's job? Granted, none of us were adults either – hence the name _Teen_ Titans – but as Raven said, we're also _super heroes_. We're kind of above the average regular human being… well, except Robin, who's the only one of us without special abilities, just, apparently, luck and the ability to _kick ass_.

"Whatever," I said to myself. Robin glanced at me but turned back to Misato.  
"And how come you didn't ask us earlier to take care of them?" he asked her. Misato flushed.  
"Well… I forgot," Misato admitted, eliciting another groan of annoyance from Raven. "Hey, it's not _my_ fault! Besides, Gehirn will pay you guys really well to-"

"Captain Katsuragi!"  
That voice came from none of us.

Turning about, we stared as a tall man walked the stairs up to the terminal. The Evangelions had since walked around the building toward the Tower, I noticed, so I wondered who this guy was. He wore no markings, only a black uniform with a green top clasp and a zipper, similar in a way to Misato's but nowhere near as cute. He wore white gloves, and as I watched him walk up he pushed up a pair of tinted glasses that hid his eyes.

Misato saluted him. "Commander Ikari!" she barked. "What an unexpected arrival! I thought you were back at HQ…"  
Commander Ikari… Shinji's father. Taking one glance at the fellow, I didn't like him _at all_. I took a quick glance; the rest seemed pretty neutral.

"I was, but I heard of an attack," was the hard reply. "I came to see if the Children were alright." Misato nodded and gestured toward the five of us.  
"No small thanks in part to the Teen Titans," she said approvingly. I felt my ego soar. "They came and fought off their enemy, who had attempted to capture Rei-chan and Shinji-kun. He managed to escape, but the Children weren't harmed," she paused. "They've boarded the Evangelions and are on their way to the predetermined coordinates, as per your orders, sir."

It was a full status report. Now all that was left was for the dude to ask about his kid.

"How's Rei?" he asked her.  
"She was unhurt, sir,"  
"And the Third?"  
"…_Shinji_ is fine as well."

So I wasn't the only one who noticed. I looked to Robin and the others again, but they were doing a pretty good job at hiding their emotions. Which was stupid; I didn't like the guy and I was about to prove it.

"Hey," I said. "Shouldn't you show at least a little concern for-"  
Interrupted again. This time by Cyborg's fist on my head. Commander Ikari glanced at me.  
"It is none of your business," he told me curtly. "They are both nothing more than soldiers in a war, and they'll stay that way until the war is finished, in either victory or defeat," he turned around. "Captain Katsuragi, I trust you'll handle the rest."

"Yes, sir!"  
"Good, see to it then," he began to walk off but paused. "I'm holding an assembly of the bridge crew tomorrow at 0900 in HQ. You have the access plates memorized."  
"Yes, sir, I do. I'll be there."  
"Very good. You've learned, Captain."  
"Thank you, sir."

With that, the old man was gone.  
I waited until I was sure he was out of earshot.

"What an asshole," I said. "Didn't ask about his kid, just _the Third_. Man, how terrible."  
"It's just how it is, BB," Robin told me. "Stay out of it."  
"But he asked about the girl!" I half-shouted. "Personally! Shouldn't it be the other way around?!"

"That's just how it is, Beast Boy," Misato whispered, staring still in Commander Ikari's direction. "To him… we're all means to an end." I shot a glare at Misato, who until now seemed so sure of herself. I saw her unravel in front of the Commander, turn into a meek little girl who did what she was told, with no question, and yet, at the same time, hold a rebellious streak.

She gave me a smile. "Did I mention that Shinji's under my guardianship?" she asked me. "The bastard can't even be bothered to take care of his son."  
"I see…" we all heard Raven mutter.  
"I don't mind," Misato said quickly. "It was a bit inconvenient at first, but it's okay. I like the kid, and learned a lot about him," she gave us a sly grin. "You know, if he was older."

Robin blanched, but mine and Cyborg's grins multiplied.  
"I'm older!" I told her. Misato laughed.  
"Sorry, kid," she said. "As much as I like the ears, I've got more important things to do… like look for my car." She walked off, leaving us Titans alone in the ruined airport terminal.

"See, I told you," I said to Cyborg, nudging him in the side. "Chicks dig the pointy ears."  
"Right, BB," Cyborg said, rolling his eyes. "Whatever you say."

"Look, let's just get back," Robin told us. "Beast Boy, you and Raven watch the Evangelions. The rest of us will go on ahead and figure out where we're going to put those damn things."

"Right-o, fearless leader!" I said, grinning and flashing a smile. "Just leave it to Raven and Beast Boy, the Dynamic Duo!" Robin shot us a glance. "Well, it's not like you and Bats are using it anymore."

"Whatever," Robin said. "Let's move out, Titans."

-

I was floating in mid-air.  
Well, not really.

I was standing in a bubble Raven had provided the two of us for transportation. I don't know _why_ she was, but it was okay. The thing was that I was _really_ close to her. Don't get me wrong, I like the girl; but it was still kinda… close.

"Um," I began. "About earlier…"  
"Don't," Raven responded. "I dug too far. It's my fault."

"Still, I shouldn't have _yelled_ at you," I countered. "That part _is_ my fault." Raven looked at me, and for a moment I thought her concentration wavered; the bubble around us shimmered.

I didn't tell her I felt like an ass about it.  
For the tiniest moment, I wondered if I should kiss and hold her or… or something.

"Bad idea," Raven said. I blinked; was she reading my mind? I peered and realized that she wasn't talking to me. Instead, looking ahead, I realized that we had caught up with the Evangelion Units… as they made their way through the middle of the city. I gaped.

"They're crazy!" I shouted. Raven flinched, but I ignored it. "Why don't they go _around_ the city?"  
"Maybe there's not enough power," Raven wondered. "Don't know how long those batteries last." She shook her head. "Still, people might get hurt. What are they _thinking?"_

The bubble sped up, and soon we were at eye level with the Evangelions. These things were _huge. _I didn't know things could be this _tall_ and still be mobile. It was impressive, to say the least. We were watching Evangelion Unit-01, Shinji's EVA, as it plodded along, its mere footsteps causing the ground to quiver. The giant machine paused, and for a second I thought the worst; that he had _stepped_ on someone. But instead the giant machine turned and _looked right at us._

For the first time in many years, I considered pissing myself. I fell to my knees and gaped at the monster as it seemed to stare right through me. I shivered involuntarily, absently grabbing onto Raven's cloak as the monster and I had a stare down. Soon, though, the Eva turned and continued on with its own path, right through the center of the city.

"What… was that about?" I whispered as I stood up, letting go of Raven's cloak before she decided to fry me. "Was he _trying_ to give me a heart attack?"  
"Maybe…" Raven intoned as we continued to follow Unit-01. "Or maybe you're just a wuss, and he was laughing at you." I gaped at her.

"I… I just about wet myself!" I shouted at her. "And you're laughing about it!"  
"Oh, calm down," Raven muttered. "Don't be so uptight, Beast Boy." I gawked at Raven, who had just made me look retarded for the past thirty seconds. "Look, just calm down and it'll all work out… we just have to follow these monstrosities to the Tower, and let Robin handle it from there."

"C-calm down?" I shrieked. "Do you _see_ those things? You could destroy the city with one of those!"  
"We've fought worse," Raven said. I bit my tongue; if there was worse, then I _really _didn't want to know about it. Like, ever; no, not even Slade was this bad. Don't look at me that way, I know what I'm talking about. "Wait a minute…"

"What is it?" I asked, noticing the way Raven seemed to almost glare at the giant purple unit in front of us.  
"…There's two…" she muttered, rubbing her temples.

"Two what?" I prodded. She wasn't being very forthcoming with info, and it was getting kind of… well, annoying.  
"Two sets of emotions," Raven replied. The bubble shimmered, and I was halfway into hawk form by the time it resolidified; I reversed the transformation and looked at her.

"What?" I asked.  
"You heard me,"  
"You said 'two sets of emotions'. I don't know what that means."  
"It means that I'm feeling two different people's emotions coming from the Evangelion," Raven explained. "Meaning… I… I don't know."

"You don't know?" I echoed. This was stupid; obviously that meant there were two people in the cockpit of that thing.  
"I feel… a nervousness and fear," Raven went on. "I think that's the boy… but…" she paused. "There's a feeling that's much _larger_ than his. It's not afraid… kind of… bestial?"

"Like an animal?" I suggested, confused. Raven was in 'empath' mode, so only God knows what would be spewing from her mouth.  
"No, bestial… like a human who's acting more on instinct." She suddenly gasped. "Oh dear Azar…"

"_What?"_ I growled.  
"It's the machine…" she looked at me, her eyes wide. "The Evangelion… I'm feeling Unit-01's emotions!"  
It was then, for the first time, I realized that when Shinji paused and looked around, the monster's chest was slowly moving up and down… as if it were breathing.  
I noticed a low hum from its head that sounded like an engine… but maybe it was growling.  
I looked at the Eva's face as it turned to look down a street. I looked closely at its eyes, and saw in the right one… an eye. A decidedly _human_ eye was behind what may be a helmet.

Raven was right… those machines were _alive_.  
I felt woozy and sat down in the bubble.

"What the hell have we gotten into?" I asked no one.  
"…Something wicked this way came…" Raven said, and when I looked up at her, I noticed, to my own fears, that Raven was visibly shaking.

-

**To Be Continued**

-

_Raven and Beast Boy come to the horrible realization that maybe the Evangelion units are more than machine. They once again confront Misato about it, as well as the Chosen, and also meet a new character: A bleach-blonde scientist named Ritsuko Akagi. As the first of the Angels bear down on Jump City, Beast Boy and the other Titans struggle to find answers. However, the organization known as Gehirn is deeper than what anyone could have imagined. Next on Teen Titans: The Chosen – Ritsuko/Angel Attack_


	3. Ritsuko::Angel Attack

**Raven told me once that she didn't believe in God as we knew it. She was pretty convinced her version was right.  
But after today, I think she'll have a different opinion on the subject…**

Its steps were heavy.  
The way its body swayed as it walked toward the docks facing the tower, it was obviously walking like a person.  
It moved its arms in time with its body, keeping balance.  
It only had one robotic eye, like a Cyclops, but when it looked at you, it felt like a person was looking at you.

Evangelion Unit-00 is its official designation.  
But I wonder if, like all creatures, it has a real name…

-

A few hours later found me sitting alone on the roof of the Tower, staring at the two Evangelions as they rested in their kneeled positions, one of either side of the Tower. I frowned at the monsters – they were not… not _natural_. They weren't man or machine, but according to Raven, they were both as well. The one I was staring at, Unit-01, had eyes, but when Shinji got out of it a clearly mechanical device came out of the back of its neck. It was… weird.

I didn't like the Evangelions. The pilots were alright, but I just did not like those things. Gehirn could rot, too, for making kids pilot those things. Ah, hell...

I kicked a pebble off the side of the Tower and watched it fall toward the ground, thinking about the First and Third Children… or rather, Ayanami and Shinji. The two pilots were resting, sitting in the rec room and probably being forced to listen to something they didn't really want to hear.

I shrugged to no one and walked back into the Tower. Today was _not _turning out to be a good day, and it was all giving me a headache. Giant robots, albino children, heroes of Earth, enemies called Angels… all of it was really screwed up, and part of me just wanted to believe that this was all a dream, and that in the morning I would wake up.

Well, as it turned out, my wake up call was running right into another person. I didn't see much as I rounded the corner, just a flash of white as I ran right into them. Both of us tumbled to the ground, and I noticed that whatever I hit was soft but slippery, in a way. Not like wet, more like… latex, maybe. Or rubber.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes while pulling my other arm out from the tangle of person I had run into. I had managed to sit up next to the white-wearing… ah, it was a woman! I looked at the lady before me as she also groaned and sat up. She was wearing a white lab coat over a blue shirt that looked sorta like a wetsuit, being long sleeved and whatever. She had pretty green eyes and bleach-blonde hair that seemed out of place.

She was smokin', though. She was like a blonde, smart version of Misato and man, was it nice. Even the little mole, like a tear on her cheek, just under her left eye, made her nice to look at. I melted into a puddle as she looked over at me.

God, I wanted to work at Gehirn.

Yes, I know what I said earlier. Forget that, if there's girls like this walking around everywhere, I am _so_ there.

"Sorry," she said. I noticed a twinge of distance coldness in her voice, but disregarded it. "I was in a hurry to reach your command room." She stood up and brushed herself off, regarding me quickly. "Come with me." I nodded and began to follow her blindly, totally taken in by this vision of hotness that had blessed me with her presence.

Something about her bugged me as we scuttled to the command room though. I couldn't place it; maybe it was that aura of command; if she had said "jump", I would've jumped without asking "how high?" I honestly didn't know what to make of her. Maybe it was 'cause I didn't know her name. Yeah.

"Hey, what's your-"

"Ritsu!!!!"

A flying violet ball slammed into the scientist woman, giving me only a second to leap out of the way. The older woman was tackled for what must have been a routine occurrence, given her quick recovery.

"Hey, Misato," she said softly. "It's nice to see you after two weeks, too." She patted Misato on the back, her own version of a hug I guess. My mind started doing cartwheels nonetheless; two beautiful women, in the same room, caused Rae and Star to pale by comparison.

It was so, so nice. Even after Misato realized what she was doing and let go, she still offered a smile to the other one.

"Hey, Titans!" she called. I snapped to attention. For the first time since entering the command room, I noticed that Robin and the others had been talking with Shinji and Rei. From the half-grin on Shinji's face, I guessed it wasn't serious, but it was still kinda strange. "Let me introduce someone to you!"

"Misato…" the scientist said in a warning tone. Misato ignored it and stood to the side, gesturing at the woman and grinning widely.

"This is…"

-

**Teen Titans: The Chosen**  
("Doctor Ritsuko Akagi!)  
**Episode: 03  
Ritsuko**

-

"Uh, yes, thank you, Misato," The doctor known as Ritsuko said. "Well, yes, I am who she says I am; Doctor Akagi Ritsuko, head of Project E."  
"Project E?" Raven echoed. I snuck into the room and found myself standing next to her. She took a glance at me, acknowledging my presence, but focused her attention on the two adults in the room. "E as in Evangelion?"

"That's right," Misato quipped, poking at Ritsuko with a finger. "Ritsuko's one of the head scientists that help the Evangelions operate, among other things," she shot a glare at Robin. "Things that are _classified_, I might add." Robin frowned, but I figured he would; someone was denying him information, and Robin absolutely _had_ to know everything that went on in this city. _Everything_, mind you.

"So then why is she here, and what _can_ she tell us?" he asked, crossing his arms and trying to look menacing. I wondered if I had ever told him how stupid he looked when trying to be menacing, and decided that maybe now wasn't a good time for that. I kept my mouth shut and listened.

"Well, I can tell you just about anything I want," Ritsuko said helpfully. "But it's what I choose not to tell you that will probably matter more than what I choose to tell you." She flashed a grin that was something between mean and sincere… with her, it was hard to tell.

"Fine, then tell just what those _things_ are," Raven demanded. She put a hand to her temple. "Those things can feel when they're active; it's savage and unsophisticated, but there's definitely emotion coming from Unit-00 and Unit-01."

"Well…" Ritsuko began. "I guess it's so secret then that the Evangelions are bio-mechanical androids. They are created from the DNA of Adam, the First Angel, in an attempt to combat the Angels that we know to exist."

"How did you know we would be attacked by Angels?" Robin asked. "Where was it written?" I swear, right then, Ritsuko had to suppress a smirk or… or somethin'.  
"I don't know," she replied. "What I _do_ know is that the Evangelions were solely created for the purpose of fighting and defeating Angels."  
"Then why choose kids to pilot them?" Robin countered, slightly irritated-sounding.

"They are the only people who can do it, that's why," Ritsuko answered, gesturing toward Ayanami and Shinji. "Not everyone can be an Evangelion pilot. An organization called the Marduk Institute finds and selects the children who can become Eva pilots."

"And just what is the requirement to be an Eva pilot?" Raven asked. Ritsuko twitched slightly.  
"That's something we don't know either," She said. "But it seems that all chosen candidates were born in and around the years 2000 and 2002 AD, shortly after Second Impact. Shinji was born on June 6th, 2001; Rei's birthday is March 31st, 2001, and the Second Child – whom you haven't met – Asuka's birthday is December 13th, 2000. However, other screened candidates range between September 13th, 2000 and September 13th, 2002."

I quickly did the math and looked around the room. Cyborg was born in the 90s, so I knew he was too old; Raven was born – you know what, thinking about Rae's birthday brings up bad memories, and I think she might be too old anyway; Robin was born in mid-2001, me late 2001, and Star somewhere in between. Assuming you don't have to be _human_, then in this room there were three _candidates_.

"Ugh…" I muttered.  
"What?" Raven whispered to me.  
"N-nothing," I stammered quickly. "We should… keep listening." I looked back toward Ritsuko and none-too-gently slid myself _away_ from Raven, who simply rolled her eyes.

"Alright, fine," Robin was saying. "So you think you have no choice. But what gives you, Gehirn, the right to just enter the city? Without _our_ permission?"  
"Oh, please," Ritsuko said, quirking an eyebrow. "You might be the protectors of this city, but you aren't the government. Gehirn has been talking with the town's mayor for well over a year now. We've already set up over 76 of the defense system, along with having the entire headquarters set up underground, in the Geofront."

I blinked.

"Geofront?" I echoed. "What's that?" Ritsuko paused before smirking.  
"The Geofront is a large underground complex about a mile outside the city." She explained. "It's where our central headquarters, known as NERV-02, will be."

"…NERV?"  
"The special operations branch of Gehirn," Ritsuko answered, straightening up slightly. Misato did unconsciously, almost in an "Attention" stance. "NERV deals with the Evangelions, the Children, and the Evas' needs." She gestured. "Rei and Shinji are what you could call our… precious possessions."

Something about the way Doctor Akagi said that bothered me. I hinted a slight detachment, I think… or something. It was weird. Adults are weird, I decided. That's why they're all crazy, like Slade and Mad Mod; they're weird or something, hyped up on some drug.

I shook my head of the stupid thought and tried focusing on the Doctor and Robin's argument.

"So where _is_ the Geofront?" he asked her. "What else is housed there?"  
"Classified,"  
"Oh, God, not this again."

Ritsuko smirked.  
"Well it's nice to know that Misa-chan can still keep her mouth shut from time to time," she chided.  
"Hey!" Misato shouted. "I thought I was your friend!"  
"This is coming from the woman who calls me 'old hag' behind my back when she thinks I'm not listening," Ritsuko countered, a wistful smile on her face. "Even though I'm only a year older than her."

"I… I…" Misato stammered, blushing with embarrassment. God, that was cute. "Well…. Anyway, what'd you come here for?"  
Ritsuko reached into her lab coat and pulled out a memory stick. Misato snatched it up while Ritsuko was explaining it.

"Satellites in orbit picked up some interesting images earlier today," she was saying. "It appears that we have a problem…"

"You mean…"  
"That's right," Ritsuko said, nodding. "The first of the Angels is on its way as we speak… I would guess that in a good three hours, it'll be within firing range of the city's point-defense weapons," Misato walked over to one of the computers and slipped in into a slot on the side. Images were instantly brought up of a shadowy, vaguely humanoid figure under the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

"How big is it?" Misato asked, staring intently at the picture. I blinked; she had instantly gone from "joking Misato" to "business Misato" in the blink of an eye, faster than Robin could. It was scary.

"About 55 meters tall," Ritsuko said. "But that's a guess; however, I do know that it is at least as tall as Unit-00 is, and maybe almost as tall as Unit-01." Another image showed the creature swimming by a whale, dwarfing the mammal. I blanched; the humpback was one of my largest forms, and the monster made it look like a paperweight.

"How can we hope to fight something that big?" I asked myself. Ritsuko heard me and gave me a cold smirk.

"Your job isn't to fight the Angels," she told us. "It's to protect the city. I've done the research, and I know that a few of your enemies will take advantage of the chaotic situation that's about to unfold. If anything, I would request that you protect Shinji and Rei as they prep for the upcoming battle."

"Protecting the city and fighting that thing are one and the same," Robin argued, annoyed; everyone was trying to take command from him, and if you know Robin, you'll know that he's extremely possessive of his leadership.

"Not in this case," Misato growled. "This is a job that's up to Rei-chan and Shinji-kun, not you guys. Sorry to say, but even the combined might of you five Titans couldn't hope to stand a chance against an Angel…" she sighed. "How much time, Ritsuko?"

"Two hours and forty-seven minutes," replied the Doctor, making an about face. "The US Army's 3rd Platoon has already set up a line of tanks along the beach, and the USAF has dispatched a squadron of bombers to slow it down." She shrugged. "I personally think it's hopeless…"

"Only an Eva can beat an Angel," Misato whispered, turning to face us – or more exactly, at the children. "Kids?"  
"Yes, Misato?" Shinji asked. I saw his nervousness; the boy was shaking from head to toe. This kid was no fighter, he was just a _kid_. No way he could bring down that giant-sized monster.

"It's time for you to fight," Misato whispered. "I was hoping to give you more time to train and get good at Unit-01, but it appears that it won't be that way," she sighed. "Shinji, Rei, prepare yourselves. I'll call up some power cables to attach to your Evangelion units, but I want you two to be dressed an active in the units within six minutes, got it?"

"Ryoukai," Rei said, turning on a heel and walking off. Shinji lowered his head and looked at the ground.  
"…Hai." He muttered. He turned and began to walk out of the room, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked away from Misato.

"Hey, Shinji?" I said suddenly. This boy wasn't happy about it, I knew; when he turned to look at me, I saw the fear in his eyes, and a level of sadness I couldn't comprehend. "…Good luck, man. We're counting on you." The boy paused, then nodded.

"I'll be alright," he said. "Thanks." With that, he walked off with Ritsuko and Rei, out of the command room.  
"So… it begins." Misato muttered, looking at the images on-screen. "Robin?"  
"What?" Asked the Boy Wonder; he had that "I'm pissed" look on his face, the kind that told the rest of us that he didn't have a clue what was going on, and he didn't like it.

"I need to request something," Misato said, looking at him. "Can I requisition control of your control room until the fight is over?"  
A permeable tension filled the room as Robin and Misato stared at each other. I subconsciously hid behind Raven, who had moved behind Starfire, who had in turn moved behind Cyborg. All of us peeked from behind Cy as the events continued.

Robin's eye was twitching under his mask. First he had lost control, and now he was losing part of the Tower. He wouldn't stand for it; I knew that he was going to say-

"Do whatever you want," Robin growled, wrapping his cape around himself. "I don't care." He turned his back to Misato and stalked out of the command room, brooding. Starfire left the group and chased after him, concern laced on her pretty face. That was cute, in a way – the girl was so taken with Robin, and Robin with her, that the two were in something that was closer than friends but not quite dating.

The lot of us watched them go before we turned back to Misato.

"Well that's great," Raven deadpanned. "Now we'll have to deal with that for a while."  
"As long as he doesn't take it out on those two kids, it's fine," I told her, walking up to Misato. "So what do you want us to do, Misato?"

"I need my bridge crew," she told us. "Of course, the problem is that they won't be here for another two weeks. So I need you guys to help me monitor the fight." She flashed a smile. "Ritsu will provide us with satellite linkup to the HQ, but without being very close to the action, they might be a little delayed when making decisions." She smiled. "Commander Ikari will be directing us from the HQ, thank God for small favors. He'll be monitoring my performance when it comes to you guys," she winked at us, and I melted. "So do a good job and make me look good, too, okay?"

"Alright," I managed to get out, enthralled by her smiling face.  
"As long as we win, I guess…" Raven said, walking over to one of the terminals. "You know, we don't use this room very often, so we're all not familiar with the terminals."  
"Speak for yourself," Cyborg shot back, taking a seat at the lead terminal. "These things are like a part of me; I can do anything from this seat." He stretched and activated the terminal. "Give me five minutes and I'll have a sensor net that stretches a couple of miles into the ocean."

"That's great," Misato complimented. "All right… um, Beast Boy?"  
"What's up?" I asked, looking over my shoulder and grinning as I reached a terminal.  
"Can you monitor Shinji and Rei on yours?" she asked me. "A lot of information will be springing up at you, but I think you can handle it. Raven?"  
"I'm listening."

"I want you to monitor the condition of the Evangelions and the Angel." The Captain said. "If there's a huge fluctuation in something, let me know.  
"So just what exactly are you looking for?" Raven asked as the terminal finished loading its OS. "I mean, mine's easy enough, I guess, but I don't know anything about what I'm monitoring. And neither does Beast Boy."

"Hey now," I shot back. "I can pick things up easily!"  
"When you want to."  
"I _always_ want to!"  
"Yeah, okay."

I glared at Raven, who promptly glared back.  
"All right now, children," Misato chided. "Let's keep this professional."  
"Professional would be us going out there and helping the Evangelions protect the city," Raven told her; I got a bit of anger in that voice. "We're not bridge bunnies, Misato."  
"Just go with it, please," Misato almost whined. "I'm already sending in two kids blind… I don't want to see all of you locked in a fight you might not win."

"Just what is so frightening about that thing?" Cyborg asked. "It looks like an overgrown Cinderblock from the pictures you showed us; I still bet I could take on the thing by myself." He looked at me. "What do you think, BB? Between me and you, I bet that Angel will be licking our boots!"

"Heck yeah!" I gloated, that boyish feeling of pride swelling in me. "Me and Cy are like the ultimate team!"  
"Yeah, okay," Misato said to us. "Just make sure you boys do this right so we can all go home tonight alive." I gave Misato a thumbs-up.  
"Sure thing," I said confidently. "Just leave it to us."

About this time, an alarm sounded. Cyborg and I exchanged glances as he began to type in a few commands.

"Well, speak of the devil," he said. "Looks like Cinderblock's on a rampage in Downtown,"  
"I'm on it!" I said, standing.  
"No, you're not," A voice came from behind Misato; Starfire and Robin were walking back in. Robin still looked pissed, but otherwise seemed unconcerned. "If these things really are as strong as you say they are, Misato, then you'll need every available hand to help you out. Starfire and I will take out Cinderblock; you guys monitor the fight here."

"But-" I protested.  
"I said no," Robin interrupted. "End of story, Beast Boy. Cinderblock's not really tough anyway; between me and Starfire, he'll go down easily enough. Come on, Star."  
"Yes, Robin," said the alien quietly. I watched their backs as they turned to leave, uncertain; Robin was acting like a leader, but from the way Starfire was, he had taken out his aggression on her.

I frowned. I'd have to talk to him about it later.  
Assuming there _was_ a later.

"Hey, we're getting a transmission," Cyborg said. "I'll put it up on the main monitor." On the large computer screen in front of Cyborg, a second bridge appeared. It was mostly empty, but two figures were seated in a desk up and behind the main bridge area.

"Commander Ikari, sir!" Misato barked, saluting.  
"At ease, Captain," ordered Commander Ikari. I narrowed my eyes at the screen, but kept my mouth shut; I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. "Fuyutsuki and I have sent the order; you'll be receiving two umbilical cables at location C2."

"Thank you, sir," Misato said. "The Children are on their way to the Evangelions as we speak… but do you think it's wise for them to be sent on their first sortie so soon?"  
"We don't have the luxury of more training, Captain," the second figure – an old man with gray hair and a somewhat more peaceful appearance – said. "Unfortunately, we're fighting on borrowed time; the Angels choose when to attack, and since we can't find them, we can't go on the offensive."

"I would've just liked to have Shinji-kun trained more," Misato said in a complaining tone. "He's not prepared for something like this, not like Rei-chan is; I don't want him to be…" she paused. "A hindrance, sir…"

"Irrelevant," Ikari muttered. "He will kill or he will die; those are the rules of this war."  
"Kill or be killed…" I heard Raven whisper. "That's too much of a decision, especially for 14-year old kids."  
"Sir… can we do it?" Misato asked. Commander Ikari simply folded his hands in front of his face.  
"We must," he said. "For all of mankind, we must."  
"…yes sir." Misato muttered.

"We'll be monitoring the situation from here," The older man said. "Best of luck to you and your… interesting bridge crew, Captain Katsuragi."  
"Thank you, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki," Misato said. "I'll do my best… oh, and Doctor Akagi should be on her way now."

"Very good," Ikari said, pushing up his glasses. With that, the transmission ended.

A slight pause filled the room before I spoke my mind.  
"I just do _not_ like that guy!" I growled. "He's too distant… 'he kills or he dies'. What kind of pressure is that to put on a _kid?!"_

"I don't like it either, Beast Boy," Raven agreed. "But maybe… it'll work out. For him, anyway; it'll work out."  
"I hope so, Raven," Cyborg said, looking at us.

The lights in the room flickered.

"_Is this thing on… can anyone hear me?"_ A voice said. I smiled; it was Shinji's. _"This is Evangelion Unit-01, online."_  
"_Unit-00 is online as well,"_ a second, quieter voice said. _"I am holding at a fifty-six percent synchronization ratio."_

"Shinji, Ayanami, this is the bridge," Cyborg said. "We're bringing you up on scopes right now."

On all three of our terminals flashed a bright logo – half of a fig leaf, cut diagonally, with the word **NERV** typed in bold letters. Forming a half-moon under it were the words "God's in his heaven, all is right with the world." It then faded and was replaced with some weird techno-babble that I didn't understand.

"We have a link-up," Cyborg called from his computer. "We're patched into the Gehirn/NERV databases, and you guys should be getting a signal soon." Sure enough, a second later I was greeted with some jargon. It was graph reports of both children – two souls, boiled down into profile images and graphs.

"Beast Boy," Misato said. "What's their synchronization status?" I searched the screen, somewhat confused, but found a graph blatantly labeled.  
"Uh…" I began – real smooth. "Ayanami is holding at fifty-six, but Shinji's keeps jumping between 43 and 65," I looked back over the chair at her. "What's that mean?"  
"It means that Shinji-kun is nervous," Misato sighed, rubbing her head. "Bring up Unit-01, Cyborg." On the main-screen, the inside of Unit-01's cockpit – which was a strange cockpit filled with computer screens and a strange, yellow liquid.

Wait a minute.

"What the hell is that stuff?!" I shouted. "Is Shinji _breathing_ it?"  
"Don't worry about me," laughed a voice. Looking up, I saw Shinji, dressed in a white and blue, skintight uniform that seemed to be made just for his body. He was sitting in what I guess was a pilot's seat, with a control console holding him in as well as providing info and two butterfly control sticks. "This LCL is harmless to your lungs. It helps us synch with the Evangelion," he shrugged. "I hated it at first, and it smells like blood, but I've gotten used to it."

"Well, that's another reason to not become an Eva pilot for me," I muttered. "So what's up, man? Why are you nervous?"  
"Just… pre-battle shakes, I guess," Shinji admitted, adjusting a weird white headband that sat on top of his… well, head.. "I've never fought before, you know. I can't really judge how well I'm going to do."

"Shinji-kun," Misato said. "Just calm down; you have Rei with you in Unit-00, and she's a more experienced pilot than you. You know this."  
"Well, yeah," Shinji said, looking off to the side – I guess to Unit-00. "But still… do we have to do this?"  
"_Yes,_" Ayanami's voice said from her Evangelion. _"People will die otherwise. We cannot let that happen, Shinji-kun."_

"…I don't want to fight," Shinji muttered, looking down. "I don't want to kill..."  
"But you can't just run away from it, either, Shinji!" Raven suddenly shouted. "What's the point in running if all you'll do is condemn us _all_?" Looking up, Shinji stared at Raven, who glared back form her seat.

"…I know you're right…" he told her. "I mustn't run away…" he started repeating that to himself, a sort-of mantra. "I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away…" he closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat, focusing on the words, or something like that. I watched the computer terminal as his synchronization rested squarely on 60.

"He's stable," I told Misato.  
"Great," she said, smiling. To Shinji, she said. "You're doing great, Shinji-kun. Just at least get past this fight, okay?"  
"I will…" Shinji whispered, smiling to us. "Thanks, everyone. Unit-01 out."

The screen went blank.  
The four of us looked at each other briefly.  
"Is it always going to be like this?" I asked.  
"I hope not," Misato muttered.

"It won't," a fifth voice said. We turned and watched as Doctor Akagi reappeared in the command room, stepping between the threshold between areas. "New orders from the Commander; it's too dangerous for me to leave this area, so I'm confined to the Tower."

"Well, good thing, too," Misato said, smiling. "Watching the first battle of the war will be better with a friend, right?"

"If you say so," Ritsuko replied, laughing.

-

**Teen Titans: The Chosen**

**Episode: 03 – Angel Attack**

**-**

Robin unceremoniously kicked me out of my seat while Ritsuko politely took Raven's.

It had been an hour since the preparations had began, and now they were almost finished. I looked at the main screen as it showed Evangelion Unit-01 standing alone, wielding a glowing yellow knife. Unit-00 stood off to the side, wielding a similar instrument, ready and waiting.

Oh, right, about Robin; last time I mentioned anything about him, he went chasing after Cinderblock. _Well_, as it turns out, a few of our Honorary Titans had finished the job before Robin and Star had gotten there, and had since stationed themselves around the city, preparing for the attack of the… _Angel._

I frowned. What a mockery.  
Raven slid up next to me as I stared at the main screen.

"What now?" I asked no one in particular.  
"The Angel will be within firing range of our weapons in five seconds," Misato said, staring intently at the screen. "3… 2… 1… here we go!" Robin turned to face me as a chorus of tank cannons firing filled the speakers.

"Beast Boy, you and Raven go to Unit-01 and help out the attack against the Angel," he ordered. "Starfire will be waiting on you there," I nodded and turned to Raven.  
"Well, then," I said, flashing my smile. "Ready, Raven?" Raven nodded and called her magic words, sending us through space-time in the blink of an eye.  
Literally; when I blinked, we were already standing on a rooftop on the other side of the city, just in time to watch a column of water explode.  
And then… _it _appeared. As it stood up to its full height, I couldn't help but be amazed.

It was tall, easily as tall as one of the Evangelions. It was humanoid in shape, dark green with bone-colored plates on its body, along with a bright red, glowing center. Its "face" was a beak of some sort, with two huge, hollow eyes that seemed to take in light and gleam with energy at the same time. I shuddered at its strange form; it was too weird for words only.

"That is huge…" a voice behind me and Raven whispered. Turning, Starfire was standing there, both her hands charged with solar energy. "If it will give the two Children time to prepare," she began, looking at me and Raven. "Then we must fight it for as long as we can."

About that time, the tanks let off another volley as a squadron of jets came from the eastern side of the city, firing missiles at the monster. The missiles flew wild, streaking toward their target and almost taking my head with it. I hit the floor with Raven and Starfire as a second set of missiles followed the first.

Every single missile hit the Angel, but nothing seemed to stop it. The Angel just tilted its head curiously and lifted its right arm. I gasped as a lance of energy shot through the air and _impaled_ one of the jets!

"Holy crap…" I muttered. The Angel looked off to the side at one of the tank columns. The vehicles fired a third volley, but the Angel simply blinked… and its eyes flashed.

A huge burst of energy exploded on top of the tank column, the energy blasting into the sky before a secondary explosion caused the energy blast to resemble… a cross. The Angel blinked again at the second column of tanks, which exploded in a similar fashion.

Uncaring, the Angel began to advance within the city.

"This is it…" I muttered, rolling up my sleeves. "I don't think I have anything big enough… but maybe…" I grinned and transformed into a hawk.  
"Beast Boy, what are you doing?" Raven asked with a warning tone. I stared up at her with hawk eyes and winked before taking to the air.  
"We must not let him go alone," I heard Starfire say. "We must fight too!"  
"Right, let's go," Raven said, and together she and Starfire took flight right behind me.

I charged the Angel, which considered the three of us with little more than a blink as it advanced. I screeched at it, trying to get its attention, but to no avail.

Instead, a flurry of Starbolts whizzed by me and got far more attention than what I had managed to do.

As the bolts of solar energy fizzled against its body, the Angel faced us. I dove for its shoulders, turning into a cheetah mid-fall, and clawed into the green hide of the monster. Raven conjured some black energy and mixed it with one of Star's eye blasts, sending the energy right at the Angel's face. The creature actually recoiled slightly, backing up a few steps and grabbing at its face and causing my ride on its shoulder to get wild for a minute.

I continued hacking at the Angel with my claws, which was probably doing nothing more than just annoying it, but I wouldn't stop anyway. The Angel looked up at Star and Raven, blinked, and sent another cross-flare right at them. Raven erected a shield that did nothing to deflect the blast, and both of them were sent flying.

"Rae, Star, no!" I reverted back to human form and shouted. Leaping off the Angel, I turned into a pterodactyl and charged at both the falling girls, grabbing one in each talon and landing them safely on another rooftop. Turning back into a human, I thudded on the roof next to them and heaved.

"This is too much," I muttered, looking at the unconscious girls, then up at the Angel as it plodded past me. I had to slow it down a bit longer, I decided. Standing up, I prepared myself to fight again…

But suddenly, an orange blur the size of the Angel tackled it and sent it to the ground. I gasped; it was Unit-00! The orange bio-mecha stood up and lifted its knife, bearing it down toward the Angel's face. The Angel reacted quickly, though, lifting both its arms toward Unit-00 and launching two spears of light from its hands, sending the Eva flying through a row of buildings.

I grabbed Raven and Starfire, who hadn't recovered yet, and leaped off the side of the building. I morphed into a pterodactyl and carried the two in my talons again, trying to reach a safe area outside the battle. I flew past Unit-00, which stood up and readied itself again.

Silly girl, Ayanami was. She just got beat down but she wasn't going to give up.

I landed on another rooftop and turned human. Ayanami charged the Angel again, this time tucking her shoulder in and rushing the beast. The Angel was knocked back into another line of buildings, but as it stood back up it released another flare of energy right into Unit-00. The orange Evangelion was hurled backward again, this time dangerously close to me and the girls.

The Evangelion stood up and prepared to attack for a third time… and promptly stopped moving. In fact, it just fell face-first to the ground.

"…Is it out of power?" I wondered. The battery packs on its shoulder "blades" grew dim, confirming my suspicions. I turned into a hawk and flew toward the Eva, watching as the armor on its neck opened up and its head moved forward slightly. A large white cylindrical object popped out – the cockpit of the Eva – and four jets of orange liquid sprayed out of it. The main hatch to the cockpit opened, and standing up was the First Child.

She looked just as I had seen her before, but now she was dressed in a skintight white suit that accentuated all the right places, a white headband similar to Shinji's, and, I know, caused my face to turn some twenty shades of red as I morphed back into human. Ayanami hopped out of the cockpit and stood on the back of her Eva, a slightly disappointed look on her face.

She looked at me with a sideways glance, unsure as I was; I couldn't speak to her simply because she couldn't speak English… but maybe she could understand it.

"Uhm…" I began. "Ayanami, isn't it?" the girl nodded, unconcerned, as she approached me. "Uh… do you need some help down?" the girl shook her head and began to walk past me… and fainted.

If it weren't for my reflexes, she would've ended up as a red mark on the ground.

On instinct, I grabbed Rei by the arm and pulled her back to me. She was a bit heavier than I thought, and her momentum forced me to fall into a sitting position. I grabbed Rei into an unexpected hug, holding her steady while I tried not to look at her figure and at the same time lay her down on the back of the Eva.

As I steadied her, the girl's eyes fluttered open again and looked right at me. I offered a comforting smile, and couldn't help but notice that… well, she was kinda cute. Rei closed her eyes again and put a hand over them.

It was then that I realized Rei smelled like blood, as I sat there looking at her. I wrinkled my nose at the scent, and realized that this must be the liquid that Shinji was talking about – LCL or something like that. Rei didn't seem to mind as she laid there, her body-suit wet with liquid and her hair matted down against her head.

I needed to contact someone, but who would be a good question. I reached for my communicator and frowned when I realized that it wasn't in my pocket like I always had it; I must have forgot to pack it today. I looked at Rei, then back up at the roof where Starfire and Raven still were. I looked behind me and saw that the Angel had stood back up and was continuing its way through the city, swatting tanks and missiles and jets aside with no effort at all.

"What to do…" I wondered. I looked over at the open cockpit and hoped that maybe a phone would be in it. I walked over to it and peered inside. It was a lot like Shinji's, though there wasn't a center console between the butterfly controls. I crawled inside the machine and frowned at the smell of blood, but continued searching the cockpit. There were lots of panels that opened to weird controls or other things – one held a First Aid kit, another a series of emergency controls, something that resembled a skull-and-crossbones and was labeled **MODE: D**, and, finally, a phone.

I picked it up and dialed it to the red-line of the Tower.

Click. "Hello?"  
"Robin? It's me." I grinned; someone had actually picked up the thing! "We need help; Ayanami's out and Star and Raven are also unconscious." There was a pause.  
"I'll try and get another one of the Honoraries to help you out, but they're having troubles of their own slowing down the Angel," Robin told me. "Just keep them safe, all right?"  
"Alright," I said. Robin was about to say something, but there was apparently a scuffle with the phone, Robin shouting something, and a loud second voice.  
"Beast Boy!" It was Misato. Oh, be still my heart. "How's Rei? Is she all right?"  
"Yeah, she's fine," I said. "She's fainted, but I think she'll live. Probably just…" I paused.

Something was wrong. _Way_ wrong.

I dropped the phone and peeked over the edge of the cockpit.

There was a Sladebot standing stock still over Ayanami, who still appeared out of it. Reacting with the speed of a thousand battles, I leaped out of the cockpit, morphed into a tiger, and leaped at the Sladebot. Both of us went over the edge of the Evangelion, but I morphed into a bird and headed back up the machine, landing next to Rei.

I stood up and looked around, holding my breath. All around me were the hunched-over forms of Sladebots. Two of them had Raven and Starfire held tightly by the arms, and a few others were climbing up the side of the Eva.

There had to be a small army of them, at the least. And they were all looking _right at me._  
"Oh… man…" I muttered. On the building with Raven and Starfire, three of the robots moved aside, and there, of course, stood Slade.

"You're surrounded," he called down to me. I bit my tongue. "Give me the girl and you can have your friends!"  
I didn't believe him; he was Slade, after all. I wouldn't believe him for anything, not even at the chance I could save my friends. I walked over to Ayanami and picked her up in my arms; she was light as a feather.

"You can have her," I shouted. "When you pry her from my cold, dead, fingers!"  
Slade's eye narrowed as I narrowed mine back at him. He wouldn't take Ayanami away as long as I could hold out.

Already I was trying to think of something, anything… a plan to protect her and at the same time save my two friends.  
"That can be arranged!" Slade shouted. "Robots, attack!"

Oh, Damnit.

I squinted as I was assaulted by all the robots at once.

Little did I know, at the same time, Unit-01, knife in hand, charged the Angel…

-

**To Be Continued…**

-

_It's a dual showdown: Unit-01 and Shinji charge the Angel in front of him while Beast Boy fights off an army of robots, as well as an old friend of Slade's. Can both teenagers win their battles and stay alive? Or will it be up to the others to rescue them in their darkest hour? The show's just beginning, here on Teen Titans: The Chosen! The next episode: Unfamiliar Ceiling/The BEAST._


	4. Unfamiliar Ceiling::The BEAST

**There are few things more painful…  
Than having your arm ripped off.**

Its codename is "The Third Angel, Sachiel."  
It stands some 190 feet tall, has green skin, and a beak-like mask for a face.  
It has two weapons; dual lances of light that shoot out of jewels in its hands, and a cross-flare beam that fire from its eyes.  
It's current and only opponent is Evangelion Unit-01, piloted by one Shinji Ikari, aka The Third Child.  
And it believes it will win.

-

The Sladebots jumped me all at once.

My mind spun in a lazy circle as I tried to figure out what to do with all the speed of a dead animal. They were leaping from the rooftops of buildings, bounding up the sides of the fallen Eva Unit-00, and charging me from all directions. If any of you have seen a Sladebot, you know that their hands double as deadly-sharp claws. I've been scratched by one, and let me tell you, that _hurts._

I looked at the silent and unmoving Rei Ayanami in my arms, sleeping peacefully like an angel. I had to protect her and at the same time rescue Starfire and Raven – who had been captured by the Man himself – all the while without getting me killed.

It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. And I guess that someone was me…

I coiled my muscles and leaped backwards, turning into a short sprint as I ran toward the cockpit of the Evangelion. I hopped once onto the Eva's shoulder, a second time onto the base of the cockpit, and a third time into the cockpit itself. I sat Rei down in the pilot's seat and looked around quickly for the "close" switch, hoping to lock her in here and keep her safe. Finding nothing, I did what I usually do best; I hit a whole bunch of random keys on the butterfly handles and leaped out of the cockpit, grinning as the hatch closed and the cockpit sucked back into the Eva's neck.

The "ground" thundered under me, and as I morphed into a wolf form, I looked back to see Eva Unit-01 charge the Angel, knife in hand. The Angel sidestepped and, with impossible strength, grabbed Unit-01's arm and threw it to the ground. Behind the Eva, a huge power cable waved through the air and slammed out the windows in some buildings.

If I had a human mouth, I would have gaped. Instead, I growled at one of the androids as I attacked, ripping out its CPU and using it as a rebound to the next android. I played hopscotch, using my wolf jaws to rip robot heads off and my wolf legs to use their bodies as stepping stones. I cut a path toward the building Slade stared down at me from, using my increasing momentum to rebound off of multiple robots.

I reached the end of the Evangelion and stopped, falling to the "ground" again and morphing back into a human. Behind me, twenty Sladebots fell to the ground, their heads severed. I grinned at Slade, who only stared impassively at me.

Far off, the Angel picked Unit-01 up by the face, grabbed onto one of the robot's arms, and started to pull. I winced as the tearing of tendons reached my ears, and something like a victorious shriek sounded from the Angel as Unit-01's arm broke under the Angel's pressure.

I wondered how Shinji was. Hopefully, I thought, he was okay.

"Your machines can't stop me, Slade!" I shouted. "I can take them out all day!" I pointed at him, glaring. "You better give me Star and Rae right now, if you know what's good for you!"

"Too bad I never learn, then," Slade growled, turning to face a spot off in the distance. "Wintergreen, handle this,"  
"Yes, Lord Slade,"

I turned around as the Angel began pounding Unit-01's face, point blank, with an energy lance.

A single, old man stood amongst the Sladebots. He had short gray hair, I saw, and a neatly trimmed moustache and beard. He kinda reminded me of Sean Connery, but his accent was British.

"So, I take it you are the trash I must take out?" he asked calmly, "shooing" the Sladebots away from us. "It seems once again there are ratty children I must attend to,"

There was a cracking sound as the Angel continued pounding Unit-01's facemask with its lance.

"I'm not just any child," I said, growling. Wintergreen smiled at me and waved his hand. "I have to power to destroy you!"  
"Do you now?" Wintergreen asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

A solid hit broke through Unit-01's facemask and sent it flying by the lance backwards into a skyscraper. Its arms crashed into the buildings next to it as it somehow stood back against the building.

I lifted my arm… and then I didn't. Looking down, my right arm, I realized, was caught in a series of threads from the elbow down. They shimmered in the light, barely visible. Looking up, I saw that Wintergreen had his hands balled into fists, and that the threads were coming from his hands.

"And these are no ordinary wires," he said mockingly. "Allow me to demonstrate."

A red substance that smelled like blood burst out of Unit-01's eye wound.

Wintergreen tugged on the wires, tightening them. By reflex, I pulled back on the wires, going against his grip. I winced as the wires dug into my arm, pulling at it with surprising force; the old man was strong. Grunting with exertion, I pulled even harder, wrapping part of the wire around my wrist to hold it as I held my grip, going into a tug of war with a strangely smirking old man, who still held it with one gloved hand.

"You're just an old man," I taunted, pulling harder. "What could you possibly do to me with rope?" I looked at my arm and realized that the wires had dug _deep_. Blood seeped in a criss-cross shape out of my arm, and I couldn't even see the wires anymore, except from my wrist. I could literally feel every twitch of the old guy's hand through the wires. "Maybe that…"

"You might want to learn how to count to five instead of ten," smirked the old guy. I was about to question, but I felt a… a searing pain. A burst of light flashed across my vision, and I heard a shredding sound.

Wintergreen laughed at me as I stumbled, looking down at my right arm… and finding that it wasn't there; instead, it was in pieces on the ground. The wires had literally torn my arm to bits. Blood, red blood, poured from my stump.

I blinked as I stared at where my arm used to be. The world around me faded as the blood from my destroyed arm wet my face and clothes, as I stared right at my stump.

A roar similar to a lion's echoed in my mind as I blanked out.

"Beast Boy, no!"

-

My eyes snapped open.

Like a bolt of lightning, I shot up out of bed and stared at my right arm. It was there, fingers and all, looking just like any other green arm… though I noticed that the sleeve was missing off of it.

Looking around, I took in the room; I was in the infirmary of the Tower, the soft colors of the room lighting the area. Behind me, I knew my regular reports from the EKG and everything else was monitoring me; we had all been in the room enough times to know that. The ceiling lights hummed with energy, and the soft sound of music filtered in through the PA system.

I laid back down in bed and stared at nothing, wondering what had happened.

"…unfamiliar ceiling…" a voice whispered. Looking to my left, the young Shinji Ikari stared at the ceiling too, and a similar look of confusion was etched in his eyes.

-

**Teen Titans: The Chosen  
Episode: 04 – Unfamiliar Ceiling/The BEAST**

-

"So, come here often?"  
"Very funny,"  
"Well, I thought so,"

Shinji chuckled a bit as he and I sat up on our beds, ignoring the TV in the room and chatting mindlessly. The two of us hadn't been out too long, I figured; the TV channels were only a day after the fight.

That is, unless Shinji and I were dead, and this was hell. Whether we had won or lost was still up in the air, and somehow I was okay with that. At least someone I _sorta _knew was there.

"So what's the last thing you remember?" I asked Shinji. The boy shrugged and gave me a confused look.

"Being beat up," he said. "The Angel was pulling on Unit-01's arm… felt like it was pulling on mine… and then it punched its lance through the Eva's head… and I blacked out. You?"

"My arm was sliced off… at least I think it was," I said, giving Shinji a confused look of my own. I held up my right arm. "Wintergreen or whatever-his-name-was whipped out these razor wires and tore my arm to shreds… I blacked out, too… and the next thing I know, I'm here," I looked around. "Do you think we died?"

Surprisingly, Shinji chuckled. "I wouldn't doubt it," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just my luck that death would be this… boring. Oh, no offense!" he suddenly looked scared, like I was going to be mad at him. I laughed.

"Don't worry about it, man," I told him, swinging my legs around off the bed and setting my feet on the floor. "It takes a lot of effort to offend me, Shinji." Shinji visibly relaxed to that, and somehow I found that… sad.

"I didn't mean to even try," he said, looking down. "I have that problem, you see; I say things without meaning it a certain way, but people always seem to take it the way I don't want them to."

"That's just people, man," I explained. "Never expect people to take something the right way; sometimes you just have to realize that people look for ways to get hurt… especially people like Raven…"

"…yeah, I guess…" Shinji replied, nodding. "But I don't have to like it, do I?"  
"Pfft, no," I said. "No one has to _like_ it, just accept it, man. Welcome to reality, Shinji," I smiled at him. "You understand?"  
"Yeah, I do," Shinji said after a pause. "You know, you're the only person who really talks to me like this… not even my friends back home would."

I was about to ask about his home life when suddenly the door to the infirm burst open and coming through like bats out of hell flew two blurs of movement. The first was Misato – still a vision of loveliness even with her worried face – as she ran in and pulled Shinji into a tight bear hug. The second was Starfire as she literally flew in and attacked me, taking me to the ground.

"Are you okay? How are you feeling?" They both asked us at the same time. I tried to reply, but part of me was held back by Star's breathtaking – literally – hug, and part of me was trying not to faint because my head was firmly planted between Starfire's breasts. If Robin walked in right now, things might be bad.

"Star…" I managed to cough. "Choking… me…"

"Hm? Oh, right," Starfire blushed slightly and let me go, much to my unhappiness. Shinji sputtered off a similar phrase to Misato, causing her to let go and put a hand on his shoulder. "I apologize, Beast Boy. I did not mean to suffocate you."

"It's alright, Star," I said, standing up and smiling. I looked up and paled; Robin stood in the doorway, an eyebrow twitching and his arms crossed as Starfire stood up next to me. "Oh, uh… hey Robin!" Behind him, Raven peered up over the Boy Idiot's back, looking into the room, and behind her, Cyborg leaned against the doorframe and nodded at me.

"I'm fine, Misato-san, really," Shinji was saying to the violet-haired beauty. "Beast Boy and I were just talking, that's all."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Misato cried, pulling Shinji into another tight hug. "I shouldn't have sent you and Rei-chan out to fight that monster!" My ears shot up and I looked straight at Misato – I suddenly remembered Ayanami.

"How is she?" I asked. "Last thing I remember-" I felt a hand on my shoulder and glanced at it. Starfire stared at me with soft green eyes.  
"She saved you," she told me. "You and Shinji both… Miss Ayanami saved both of you from certain doom, I believe," she looked at Misato, who nodded.  
"She's right, in a way," Misato explained. "After the Angel was defeated, Rei-chan recovered both of you before the villain… er…"  
"Slade?" I offered. Misato nodded. "So… we won?"

"Oh, yeah," Robin suddenly said from the doorway. "Over ten city blocks destroyed, some sixty million dollars in damages, at least two-hundred fifty people injured from the Evangelions fighting, and one of my Titans in the hospital, not to mention Slade's almost-victory; yeah, a real winner." He walked into the room, glaring at the four of us. "Well, Miss Katsuragi, I hope you're happy; you've definitely demonstrated the destructive power of your little toys."

"Oh, come on now," Misato chided, winking at Robin. "We won the good fight, so now it's time to relax and let my higher-ups deal with the mess… besides, work like this makes the PR people happy." She smiled at me and Shinji. "I'm especially happy because the two of you are okay."

I blushed. I couldn't help it! Misato was a damn pretty woman, and she just told me she was happy to see me alive! No one else ever told me that! Not even my friends… well, at least I don't _think_ they've ever been that glad to see me.

"Uh… no problem… Misato-san," Shinji blushed. "Just… I don't remember what happened… none of it."  
"Well… we can tell you that later, okay?" Misato suggested. I nodded.  
"So long as I eventually know, that's all I care about," I said. "…how long have we been out?" Misato paused and held a finger to her head.

"Eh… about twelve hours," she said. She looked at Starfire, who nodded agreement. "That's an educated guess… I've been so busy with paperwork that it's the first time I've seen the light of day since the fighting ended," she shrugged.

"Speaking of which," another voice called. Ritsuko Akagi walked into the room, wearing the same clothes as the first time I had seen her. "You still left a stack of paperwork on your desk, Misato-chan. Don't you think you need to be getting back to that?"

"Eheh, well…" Misato stuttered. "H-hey, wait a minute! I'm Shinji's superior officer, so it's my duty, as CO, to ensure his health!"  
"Are you _sure_ it's not because you have a schoolgirl crush on him?"  
"…Misato-san, is that true?"  
"No, it's not true!"  
"He's _half your age!_"  
"I said it's not true, Robin!"

Robin snorted. "Yeah, okay." A smile flashed across his face, and I felt the air relax.  
It was strange; Robin can make a room tense or relaxed with a look. It must be that "fearless leader" persona or something.

I grinned as Raven and Cyborg sidled into the room from outside, and together the lot of us chatted about nonsensical things, like Misato's maybe-crush on Shinji (I wasn't jealous, really!) and other stupid stuff. Our laughter (except for Raven's, of course, because you have better luck getting a stone to laugh) echoed through the Tower from our little medical ward, and the thought of where Rei was and what she was doing never crossed my mind.

-

At least, not until three hours later.

It was decided and agreed that Shinji and I were okay (nevermind that we still couldn't remember just what had happened), so we were unanimously let off the hook and free to do whatever. Misato and Ritsuko, unfortunately, left us and took Shinji with them – something about tests or whatever. This just left the five of us in the Tower.

Robin and Starfire ran off together to do… something, I don't know. Knowing them, maybe it was "make out time"… not that they _did_ that, as far as anyone knew. Starfire made sure I was okay first, and she was definitely concerned (and I definitely noticed that her chest might have grown a little) about my well-being. Robin was happy to see me well, but at the same time he told me that we needed to "have a talk" about what I had or had not done. I didn't really listen at the time, and I don't plan on listening to his ranting.

Heh, I'm bad, aren't I? Ah, you know I am.

Raven, Cyborg, and I were relaxing in the main room of the Tower, like always. Cyborg was flipping channels and looking for something decent to watch on TV (haha, good luck!) and Raven was… well, Raven was being very strange.

She was sitting next to me, slightly slouched over and staring intently at her book. She was acting normal, but my sharpened senses (thank you animal forms) caught the occasional glance at me, even while I was leaned back on the couch and staring at the TV channels as they flipped by.

I suppressed a smirk after the fifth time; Raven was obviously oblivious to my noticing it. I let her do it a few more times, just to see what was on her mind. See, I have this ability to read people by their body language, even if I'm being a dork. It tells me when to stop, after all.

I slowly lifted my left arm and placed it on the back of my head. Raven tensed up but relaxed quickly, and that told me that something was _definitely_ up. I grinned, despite myself; figuring it out was way fun, and I was having a really good time trying to read Raven.

Raven's right arm twitched as I adjusted my position on the chair, and she took another nervous glance at me. Had this been any other girl, you'd think she had a crush on me. But this was _Raven_, not a random schoolgirl. If Raven was nervous about talking to me, then something big was up, and I don't like big somethings.

I moved my arm and slowly put it on Raven's back. Raven almost yelped with surprise, but kept it down and acted non… nonchal…. Calm. I could still feel how tense she was under my hand. I took a quick glance at Cyborg, who appeared totally not into what we were doing. I knew he was probably taking some interest though; it wouldn't be like him to _not_ make fun of me later about this. I shrugged and continued my amusement, sliding my hand up Raven's back and onto her left shoulder.

The book dropped with a thud as I pulled almost too harshly on her. Raven gave in easily, falling back against me with an almost shocked and at the same time embarrassed look on her face. I draped my arm over her as I looked down at her, as she looked up at me. Both of us were blushing with embarrassment (well, I'm pretty sure I was), and Raven's big purple eyes were staring right into mine.

"Uh…" I managed; really smooth. "Hey, what's up?" Raven looked so fragile as she pressed against me, so… so frail. It was rare to see her act weak in any way, you know – Raven's a strong girl, and she doesn't show weakness if she can't help it – and part of me just wanted to hold her like this… well, forever.

The rest of me wanted to run away. I couldn't help it – I remembered Terra all too well, even after all this time, and even though all these pretty women have walked into my life, I still held loyalty to her and, yes, love for her. I couldn't just…_ stop,_ ya know? Would you? I didn't think so.

"I think I'll be going now," Cyborg suddenly said. He stood up quickly and began walking off, but not without first giving me a look that said "go get 'em, Tiger." Or… or something like that. He looked away at far off as he walked off, his heavy bootsteps echoing in the room. Soon, though, those steps were gone, and I was left with a something like a vision of loveliness on me.

"Beast Boy…" Raven began quietly. I looked back down at her still blushing face and felt heat rise in my own again.

"…Raven?" I asked, hoping she'd continue. I just… I wanted to reach down and kiss her, Damnit! But I… at the same time I didn't want to, just drop her here and run away! Ahh, stupid emotions!

"…I just… I was worried about you," Raven admitted. "I didn't want to think that… you know… you were seriously hurt or anything like that." Her blush rose. "I, uh, I was… well, yeah…"

I was at a loss of words. Raven, _Raven_, was worried about _me_. To this day, I'm pretty sure that I'm the last person Raven's ever worried about. However, when I was holding her against me, I saw the sincerity in her eyes.

"I… I'm fine, Rae," I answered, looking down at her. "You know me, made out of steel and totally invincible!" I grinned. "I'm like a Mack truck, Raven; I just keep going and going!"

Yeah, totally invincible, right? Like, so invincible I was still afraid that if I looked at Raven in any way other than just a friend, I'd lose myself in another relationship that was bound to crash and burn like my last. If I was so invincible, I wouldn't be afraid of that, now would I?

"…I know…" Raven said after a time. "I just… wanted to hear it from you." With that, she did the unthinkable: Raven reached up and kissed me gently on the cheek. "Thanks, Beast Boy," she said as she wriggled out of my arm and stood up.

"Uh… no problem, Rae," I mumbled. "No problem at all." She bent down and picked up the book.

"…Um… Beast Boy?"  
"Yeah, Raven?" Raven looked down at me.

"Tell anyone about this, and I'll make sure that you find a Sladebot lodged up in a crevice of your body so seldom seen that not even my father would touch it with a ten-foot rusty spear, okay?"

I snorted. Now _that_ was the Raven I knew; witty, sarcastic, and totally mean sometimes. "Sure thing, Raven… and thanks for worrying."

"No problem," replied the mage, who began to walk off. "…You big dork." She pulled her cloak around herself and walked off, leaving me alone in the Tower… well, as alone as one can be with their own thoughts.

I gasped. I forgot to ask Raven about what had happened! I cursed my bad memory and got up to chase her, stumbling over my own two feet as I bolted out of the room… and ran right into Starfire. I didn't have time to react as both of us gasped with surprise, tumbling to the ground much like Ritsuko and I had done before. I fell on top of her, and when I regained my senses I found that Star was sprawled out under me, and I was on my hands and knees above her. I stared at her as she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Beast Boy…" she whispered.  
"Are you all right, Star?" I asked her. Starfire was blushing slightly.  
"I am unharmed, but…" She began. Reaching up, she grabbed my left arm. "As pleasant as it feels, I must ask that you let go of me." I blinked, then looked down at my left hand.

I was firmly grabbing her right breast.

"Ahh!" I leaped up and backed away from Starfire, who only giggled with amusement. "I – I'm sorry, Starfire! I didn't mean to!"

"It is okay," Starfire assured me as she stood. "It was an accident, so there is 'no harm done', I believe the phrase is," she adjusted her clothes and smiled at me. "So where were you running off to?"

-

**Teen Titans: The Chosen  
Episode: 04 – The BEAST**

-

"So… you do not remember any of it at all, do you?"  
"No… no, I don't."

Starfire and I stood on the roof of the Tower. I was looking out toward where the Angel and the Evangelions had fought. It was pretty obvious; a huge ruined part of the city, like a scar, had cut its way across a strip of the cityscape. Starfire stood at the edge of the Tower, me slightly behind, as she also looked at it.

"That is unsurprising to me," Starfire told me. "On my planet, unpleasant memories are sometimes forgotten, especially after particularly painful or difficult events. These memories come back in time, of course, but sometimes it is easier to forget," she turned and looked at me. "If you wish, I can tell you what I saw… but you will not like it."

"Why not?" I asked her.

"It involves that which you suppress," she explained, looking at me with sympathetic eyes. "It involves the beast that you have hidden from yourself, Beast Boy… and it saved you."

I paled. I knew what she was talking about; my inner monster, the thing which hurt Raven, and that thing which I used to fight against Trigon's clone of me. I hated that part of me, but… it saved me? I was confused as Starfire opened her mouth to explain… just as her communicator beeped. Pausing in her story, she plucked it from her belt and opened it.

"Yes?"

"Starfire," it was Cyborg. "Gehirn is sending Shinji, Ayanami, and Miss Misato to live with us until the threat's passed."  
"…Can they do that?" Starfire asked. I walked next to her and looked into the com with her. Cyborg's amused face looked back at us.  
"Apparently so," he said. "Robin's pitching a fit about it, so I figure it's up to the four of us to try and make them comfortable." Starfire giggled.  
"Yes, I suppose Robin does not appreciate this Gehirn," she said. "They have pretty much taken over the Tower for their own purposes,"  
"Well, I'm not happy about it either," Cyborg told us. "But if it keeps those kids and the city safe, I think I can let it slide."  
"Agreed," Starfire replied. "When are they coming?"

Something in the distance caught my eye. It was a blue speedboat, heading at the Tower with extreme speed.  
"I think I see them," I told her.  
"Yeah, that's them," Cyborg replied, checking something. "Raven and I'll be at the door to greet them. You're coming too, right?"  
"Yeah, we'll be there," I said. Starfire nodded at the com. "Hey, Cy, I bet we can beat you to the door."  
"What?"  
"You'll see," I promised, an impish grin on my face. Starfire closed the com and hung it on her belt. "How about a little race, me and you, Starfire?"

"…to the bottom of the Tower?" Starfire asked me. She straightened up a little; Star was always up for a fun challenge, and one thing in common was that we both liked to race. "You are on, Beast Boy!"

I smiled at Starfire, coiled my muscles, and sprung toward the opposite edge of the Tower. My feet pounded the concrete of the roof as I sprinted, and a quick glance behind me showed that Starfire had also broken into a run, probably half-a-second behind me and rapidly catching up. Starfire is more athletic than me, see, partly because I'm lazy and partly because of her Tamaranian… uh… makeup, or something. I'm sure Robin or Cyborg knows the word. Physio-somethingorother.

Starfire made it past me as we neared the edge of the Tower, but I wasn't going to give up. With a shout, I leaped over the edge of the Tower, my shirt almost scraping the corner as I made it past. I focused my DNA and quickly morphed into a Peregrine Falcon, which, for those of you who don't know, is the fastest animal on Earth when its in a dive.

I tucked in my talons and wings, streamlining my form so I could dive like a bullet. It wasn't free-fall; although the falcon's instincts handled most of the work, I could adjust almost every feather to keep myself stable. I chanced a glance beside me to see that Starfire was keeping up, but just barely. She wasn't falling like me – she was flying downward instead, using gravity and her power to her advantage. If I had lips, I would've grinned as I felt my speed pick up.

The ground screamed closer, and at the very last second I flared, spreading my wings wide and leveling out. The air caught in my wings as air pushed me up and gravity pushed me down, slowing me to a near-halt as I focused on turning back into a human. My feet touched the ground as my arms slowly replaced my wings, and just as Starfire nearly slammed into the ground. I say nearly, because as she reached arm's length, she reached out, just barely touched the ground with one arm, and pushed up, performing a small flip and landing on her feet.

I grinned at her victoriously. "It looks like I win this one," I boasted.  
"Yes, you did," Starfire admitted, smiling warmly at me. "I believe that the tally is now five-to-three, still in my favor,"

I blinked; Starfire had a _damn_ good memory when she wanted to. "Uh, yeah…" I shrugged. "Anyway, Star, as you were saying?"

"Later, friend," Starfire assured me, gesturing toward the boat as it approached. "Our visitors arrive," she smiled and folded her hands together, holding them down in front of her skirt quietly as she watched them. I alternated looking at Starfire and looking at the boat… Star seemed really calm for someone like her, especially since most of the time she was really hyperactive and stuff. But as she watched Misato and the others on their approach (Misato was wearing a sleeveless tank-top shirt and cutoff jean shorts that exposed her midriff and was oh-so-totally hot), Star had taken on a more stoic… expression. Or something like that.

"Uh… Starfire, are you alright?" I asked. "You seem not yourself."  
"I am fine," she whispered to me. "I would just like to know about that one…"  
'Which one?" I replied, confused. Starfire waved at the group as they approached, returning the wave that Misato was giving us.  
"…the one girl… Ayanami," she looked at me and smiled. "I am sorry… it is unlike me to 'brood', I believe the term is,"  
"No, it's cool," I said quickly. "You're only… well, I guess not _human_, but you're human enough," I grinned. "Almost as human as me, Star," My heart leaped as Starfire giggled to that.

"Only while you retain human form," she said. "However, I do believe that you might be closer to a human in your gorilla form,"

"Hey!" I shouted defensively. Starfire only smiled at me before skipping down to the edge of the island to help Misato and the others get out of their boat. "Crazy girl…"

"At least she's got a better head on her shoulders than you do on yours," a voice deadpanned behind me. I turned around and glared right at Raven and Cyborg, who had opened the front door.

"Ha, ha, very funny!" I said.  
"Well, I thought so, too," Raven said as she walked slowly past me. I continued shooting lightning bolts at her as she passed me, but broke my attention from her graceful walk to join up with my old pal.

"She's so mean to me," I complained. Cyborg chuckled and, in his infinite wisdom, gave me advice.  
"Raven's perpetually PMSing, you should know that my now," he told me.  
"I could believe that," I chuckled. "I swear, it just goes from bad to worse with her."  
"Amen," Cyborg agreed. "Now let's go help; it'll look bad if the girls do all the work."  
"Yeah, yeah…"

We joined the others at the bottom of the island, where Misato was busy tying the boat to a hook that was part of our "dock" thing. Shinji and Rei sat calmly in the back, both of them wearing clothes just like the ones from before – I swear, these kids have no sense of style. Shinji looked bored, leaning against his hand as he looked out toward the city, and Rei looked like… well, Rei. Until now, I never thought someone's own name could be used as an adjective, but the term "Rei" fit Rei herself. It was… weird.

"Hey, Shinji!" I shouted, getting the… Third Child, was it? – Yeah, Shinji's the Third Child. I tried getting his attention. "What's up?" Shinji turned to face me, his eyes bleary and worn-looking.

"Tests…" he muttered. "If I have to sit through another test, I think I'll just fall in the bay and die." I laughed at that. "Hey, _you_ try going through those. Doctor Akagi poked me in places I didn't know I _had_." I stopped laughing and briefly pictured Shinji and Rei getting manhandled by Ritsuko… and blushed.

"Well… that sounds like fun, Shin-man," I said. "And you have to go through this every time you fight an Angel?"

"No, just once weekly," groaned the boy, putting his head in his hands. "I tried getting Misato-san to convince her to stop, but she said 'no'… because she thinks its hilarious."

"So would you, Shinji-kun, if you just thought about it," giggled Misato as she hopped out of the boat. She had good… 'bounce', is the word. She had good bounce, and if you need me to explain it… think of basketballs.

Anyway.

"So where's your fearless leader?" Misato asked us. I blinked, confused. I didn't know where Robin was either. I looked at Cyborg, who just shrugged.

"Skulking in his room," he told us. "He doesn't like it when people override his authority… he's got issues like that."

"I… see…" Misato said warily. Shaking her head, she loosened up and gave us a half-hearted smile. "Well, he'll just have to get used to it, now won't he? That's right!" she looked behind her. "Shinji-kun, would you be a dear and help the boys with the luggage?"

"What luggage?" Shinji countered. "It's all yours, anyway! Ayanami and I were lucky to fit two bags on board a piece!" he glared at Misato, who only sighed.

"I'm a woman, what do you want from me?" she asked him, cocking an evil grin. "Unless you want… you know, _that…_"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding," Raven groaned.

"What? It's just harmless fun," Misato giggled as Shinji got the joke and started sputtering a denial. "Isn't that right, Beast Boy?" I laughed and nodded. "See? Even Beast Boy thinks its funny." I stuck my tongue out at Misato, who replied with a "pfffft" of her own.

"Children…" Raven muttered as Cyborg jumped in the boat and opened the trunk compartment… and was overwhelmed by bags of stuff, including an extra refrigerator and kotatsu (that's a heated table, by the way; I learned that during our stay in Tokyo). Shinji sweatdropped as he moved himself and Ayanami out of the way, leaving Cy drowned under bags.

"BB, help!" he shouted. "I don't think I'm gonna make it!" I laughed and morphed myself into a gorilla, hulked over to the boat, and lifted the fridge with one huge arm. With a grunt, I set it down next to Misato, who squealed with delight and hugged the small appliance.

We formed a chain, starting with Cyborg and I, then moving to Starfire, who passed it to Shinji, who passed it to Raven, who levitated it next to a growing stack of boxes next to her. Misato and Rei watched from farther back, the former sitting on the fridge and the latter just… standing there.

"Man, what's this?" Cy asked, pulling a human-sized box out of the boat. "Looks like a coffin."  
"Oh, that's something that Ritsuko cooked up before we came here," Misato explained as I passed it to Starfire. "Something that'll help Rei-chan fight alongside you guys."  
Raven almost dropped the box in midair. "Wait, who said she was fighting _with_ us?"  
"It's only optional!" Misato shouted, holding up her hands in front of her and waving them nervously. "I mean, if you guys choose to, Rei can help you guys out in return for letting us live here."

I morphed back to human quickly. "Would Ayanami be willing to help us?"  
"…well, that's up to her," Misato replied. "Commander Ikari said that she was ordered to, but I'm not going to force her if she doesn't want to." I nodded; that answer satisfied me. "So… where will we be staying?"

"There's guest rooms," Raven offered. "But they're not furnished really well…" she paused. "There's one other room…" she looked at me.  
One other room? What did she mean?  
Wait… no. _No._ They could not have her room!  
"No!" I denied harshly. "I don't care if Shinji and the others have to sleep in the rec room, but there's _no way_ I'm letting them step foot in Terra's room!" I clenched my fists and looked down.

"…that's why I asked, Beast Boy…" Raven said. "…it's your room, too… so that's why I'm asking you…" I unclenched my fists and looked up at Raven, still somewhat shocked that she even remembered that room; that very room I sometimes still snuck into and slept in.

"…well, they can't have it, either way," I mumbled. "…My room has a bunk bed… Shinji, you could stay in my room with me."  
"Uh, sure," Shinji replied, a complacent – hey, I know that word! – look on his face.  
"I'll let Ayanami… stay in mine," Raven said hesitantly. Cyborg, Star, and I looked at Raven, shocked; she was letting someone stay in _her_ room. Raven sure was full of surprises today. "On one condition; she doesn't touch anything." Misato looked at Rei and said something in Japanese.

"…hai." Rei said after a moment.  
"She said okay," Misato told us. "As for me, I'll need a room just to fit all my stuff, so I'll take one of the guest rooms, if that's okay."  
"That's cool," Cyborg said, picking up some of her things. "I'll help you out with your stuff, Misato." The Captain grinned.  
"Why thank you," she said, picking up a couple bags. Raven picked up one of Rei's bags and psychically lifted the human-sized box while Ayanami picked up her other bag. Shinji hefted most of his things, and I picked up a couple of them too. Starfire picked up the fridge and the kotatsu and followed the others back in the tower.

"I'll warn you, though," I told Shinji. "My room's a little messy…"

-

"This is… a _little_ messy?"  
"Ah, shut up… oh, and don't open the closet… I don't know if anything's alive in there."  
"…_alive?!_"  
"Hey, you agreed to this room!"  
"Yeah, and I'm starting to regret it."

I pushed Shinji all the way into my room and turned on the lights. It was starting to get dark, and hard to see in my room.

I almost turned the lights back off. My room was probably a bit worse than I remembered it, and I'm pretty sure something _slithered_ under my bed. Shinji frowned and dropped most of his things on the bottom bunk before neatly placing another object on the ground next to it. He found the nearest piece of dirty laundry and hurled it to the closet door.

"…uh, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Cleaning up," Shinji replied, hefting up a box of week-old pizza and throwing it in the empty garbage can at the foot of my bed. "Misato-san's apartment was like this when I first moved in, and I ended up cleaning the whole thing by myself..."

"You lived with Misato?" I prodded, dropping the rest of Shinji's things and helping him pick up.

"Only for a week before we moved here," Shinji answered, nodding. He almost tripped over my Game Station (because it was hidden under more dirty laundry) before setting it up on my dresser, next to my small TV. "I pretty much had enough time to get used to her before we were shipped here." He sighed. "It's been an… interesting past couple of weeks for me."

"I bet it has," I said, empathizing. "Did you have any friends at home? I bet you miss them." Shinji found a… a something… and threw it in the garbage.  
"Yeah, I had three good friends," he told me. "Suzuhara Touji, Aida Kensuke, and Horaki Hikari… they were classmates." He chuckled. "We were the most mis-matched group of kids you'd ever seen."

"Oh, it couldn't have been worse than me and the other Titans."  
Shinji paused cleaning up and looked at me with a sidelong look. "…well, originally we hated each other… but see, we found out something about each other… and somehow, that brought us together… and we all eventually became pretty good friends."

"Oh, and what's that?"  
"…None of us had mothers."

-

"Ah, another unfamiliar ceiling." Shinji sighed. It had taken us a good four hours to clean my room, but Shinji didn't seem to mind; he enjoyed my stories of our exploits against the world's villains, even nodding when he remembered something that had an effect all over the world. For example, everyone missed about an hour of their lives suddenly; that woulda been thanks to Trigon, before we kicked his ass.

"Maybe this one will become familiar to you, Shinji," I said from my bottom bunk. I was staring up at him, and through the darkness I could make out subtle motions in the mattress as he moved.

"Yeah, I hope so," Shinji yawned, rolling onto his side. "In two weeks, I've been told I was humanity's last hope, trained to fight in a 60-meter tall mecha, met my father for the first time in three years, made a couple of new friends, and been subjugated to more events in two weeks than many get to see in two years," he sighed. "I'm beat." I laughed about that.

"Well, take it easy, Shin-man," I said to the bed above me. "Your under the watch of the Teen Titans now… we won't let you come to harm, and I swear I'll try and beat down the next Angel, okay?"

"Haha, alright, Beast Boy," Shinji rolled to his other side. "Goodnight."  
"'Night."

Silence filled the room, leaving me alone to my thoughts. My eyes were wide open as I stared back behind my bed and out the window at the moon. It was bright… white… full. And as I watched it, I heard a… a pounding sound. It wasn't really pounding, maybe… more like a clanging sound. Metal against metal. It sounded like…

_Unit-01's facemask burst wide open as Sachiel's lance shot through it, propelling the giant Evangelion back almost 500 feet into the skyscraper behind it. Unit-01's hands flailed, slamming into nearby buildings as it finally came to a still. A gurgling sound was followed by a torrent of blood that gushed from Unit-01's blasted open eye socket._

"_Unit-01's in the red!" Ritsuko shouted from her terminal. "Left arm's totally broken, and the left eye has been blasted out!"_  
"_Status of the pilot?!" Misato shouted at Robin._  
"_Negative!" Robin replied. "Nothing's on screen!"_  
"_What about Rei?" Misato asked Cyborg._  
"_We finally got Unit-00s position," he told her._  
"_On-screen!"_

"…_oh my God…"_

_Beast Boy stood on top of Unit-00, his face lowered and his hair hiding his eyes. Red blood was splashed across his face, and where his right arm was instead nothing but a stump. His breathing was labored as his eyes narrowed into slits. He felt himself giving away to something deep within himself… a bestial, feral impulse._

"_Misato, Unit-01's reactivating itself!"_  
"_WHAT?!"_  
"…_Berserker…"_

_Unit-01's right eye flared to life. It stood straight up and held its arms to its sides. The jaw-unit broke open, and Unit-01 roared to the sky. Its power was only echoed by Beast Boy, who screamed/roared in a similar fashion before both coiled their muscles and leaped through the air._

_Unit-01/Beast Boy landed on Sachiel/Wintergreen, grabbing an arm and pulling on it harshly, trying to rip it out of its socket before the Angel/Villain repelled the attack with a powerful hook. Both leaped away from their opponents, landing with a crash on the ground… or in Beast Boy's case, leaping to the ground amidst a horde of closing-in Sladebots. Wintergreen leaped down from Unit-00 softly, pulling out an object attached to his wrist._

_Unit-01 and Beast Boy roared with power, charging again._

"_Hyper-ionic activity in the air!" Ritsuko shouted. "The Angel's raising its AT Field!"_

_A huge wall of force stopped Unit-01 in its tracks as a blue force field sprung up around Wintergreen. The orange hexagonal field broke through buildings as it held Unit-01 at bay. The purple Evangelion growled, lifting its broken left arm. It balled its hand into a fist, and in one action healed its arm completely._

"_The left arm's… healed itself!"_  
"_No way…"_

_On the ground, Beast Boy growled at the barrier before channeling his anger. The color drained from his face as the blood flow to his destroyed arm increased. As his lifeblood poured to the ground, a ball of green flesh grew and expanded where his stump was, growing down and thinner and, with complete accuracy, reformed Beast Boy's right arm into its original shape. With a scream, Beast Boy transformed, this time into his Werewolf form, and sank both claws into the force field._

_Unit-01 sank its fingers into the AT Field at the same time._

"_Frequencies are… harmonizing?" Cyborg asked. "What's that mean?"_  
"_Unit-01's formed its own AT Field," Misato explained. "It's countering the Angel's own."_  
"_No, not countering," Ritsuko told her. "It's breaking through it!"_

_With a roar of anger, Beast Boy ripped open the Force Field and overloaded the wrist unit on Wintergreen's arm just as Unit-01 tore apart the AT-Field with a single pull of strength. Sachiel shrieked, firing a cross-flare point-blank and destroying five city blocks with its cross-shaped energy blast. Wintergreen screamed in surprise as Beast Boy's Bestial form picked him up and began to pull at his arms. With a roar, Eva-01 ignored the energy blast and grabbed both of Sachiel's arms, pulling them together before twisting them and snapping them in half._

_At that same moment, Beast Boy literally yanked Wintergreen's arms out of their sockets. The old man screamed in pain and confusion as Beast Boy picked him up and hurled him at Slade himself, who had been watching from his perch high above. Unit-01 charged Sachiel and pushed it back against a building before sending both building and Angel farther backward._

_In one powerful leap, Beast Boy forced Wintergreen and Slade to collide and causing Slade himself to drop Raven and Starfire, who had regained consciousness and had been struggling against his grasp. Beast Boy roared and began to beat-in Slade's armor as Unit-01 ripped out of one Sachiel's ribs and began to use it as a knife, plunging it repeatedly into the marble-like core of the Angel's body._

_Beast Boy ripped off Slade's faceplate, revealing a mechanical face – another robot. An activation timer counted backward from three.  
Sachiel screeched as its core was breached. It morphed into a ball and wrapped itself around Unit-01's head and torso before glowing bright red.  
The Slade-android exploded, taking Beast Boy with it.  
_

_Sachiel exploded, engulfing Unit-01 in fire. The explosion reached three-hundred feet in the air before exploding into a cross shape.  
From the bridge of the Tower, the others watched._

"_Did we win?" Misato wondered.  
Slowly, from the flames, Unit-01 walked out, its hands hanging loosely at its sides as it walked from the explosion unscathed._

"_This must be…" Ritsuko began._  
"…_Eva's true form…" Misato finished._  
"_Pilot status… restored?" Robin asked as data began feeding back to him._

_Shinji and Beast Boy blinked at the same time. The shapeshifter quickly morphed back to human form and fell to his knees. Looking down, he saw what was left of Wintergreen, his ruined and destroyed body not ten feet away. His eyes widened._

_Shinji looked around the entry plug of Unit-01. Next to the Evangelion, its reflection appeared in the mirrored surface of a skyscraper's glass window. He looked at the Eva's faceplate… just as it fell to the ground. The strange, slightly deformed form of Unit-01's face stared back at Shinji. The Evangelion's right eye was missing, but as Shinji watched, a slit of flesh overtook the ruined socket before melding, forming a lid, and opening to reveal a bright green eye… almost similar to Starfire's._

_Both of the Eva's eyes looked at Shinji… both eyes _focused _on Shinji._

_Simultaneously, Shinji Ikari and Beast Boy screamed in shock and horror._

I rolled over in bed.

"Shinji?" I asked.  
"…yeah?"

"Do you remember?"  
"…yeah, I do."

"…Good job taking out that Angel, Shinji…"  
"…you did good taking out that villain, too…"

I looked up at the top bunk, and briefly wondered how Shinji knew about my fight with Wintergreen…

-

**To Be Continued…**

-

_Coming to grips is never easy, but sometimes you have help. It's up to Beast Boy to make Shinji feel comfortable, and that's what he feels his personal mission is. But a surprise attack on the city by another villain stalls the Third Child's tour of the city, and its up to Beast Boy and the others to protect the helpless Third Child. Add that to Rei's new experimental armor, and you have a mission that might be a major success… or failure. Next on Teen Titans: The Chosen – A Transfer/Hocus Pocus_.


	5. A Transfer::HOCUS POCUS

**Sometimes Fate works with you to pull off an awesome day.  
I don't know if today was one of those days, but it was _damn_ close.**

The sun rose quietly over the earth, spreading warmth and light throughout the land and sea.  
Amidst the quiet, serene sunrise, a small city on the West Coast began to awaken as well.  
Just before the city, a small, underground complex began to switch to its first-shift workers.  
Within the city itself, men and women worked to rebuild the destruction left in the wake of monsters.  
In the center of the city, within its expansive bay, a T-shaped Tower also began to slowly awaken.  
"...YYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!"

-

I fell out of bed and flat on my face. Acting on impulse, I shot straight up and began to look around for the source of the noise. I couldn't figure it out; was someone in danger? Was I needed?

Shinji mumbled and rolled over on his bed. I stared up at him before dropping it; I had to find out what was wrong. Shinji could wait. I sprinted out of my room in my boxers and socks, slid around a corner and continued running, stumbling over my own two feet but holding my balance, even if barely. I shot past the elevator and almost bolted past the others, who were standing at the entrance to the rec room dumbly.

I slowed and stopped, thanks partly to Cyborg, who had put his hand in front of me so I could run into it.

"Ow! Dude…" I paused and looked in the rec room.  
And there she was. That's right: Miss Misato.

She was dressed in a very _un_-modest pink night shirt and her underwear, giving the lot of us a good look at her figure as she calmly sat on a chair, balanced on two legs and her own legs sitting on a table, leaning back and rapidly drinking. She had just taken a shower, I had thought; a towel was draped over her shoulders and. She had her eyes closed as she drank from the can, but opened one and looked at us.

She lifted her mouth from the can and licked her lips. I could already feel the blood ready to gush from my nose.  
"Oh, hey guys!" she called, waving. "Good morning!" Cyborg and I raised our hands and waved back weakly, enthralled by this vision of sexiness personified before us. Robin held a face over his hand, his eyebrow twitching (but that might've been because like me he was dressed in his heart-dotted boxers). Raven blushed slightly and looked away (but did she look again? No, I think she was ogling Robin... haha, I didn't know she had that in her!), folding her arms across herself; and Starfire…

Starfire, in all her infinite naïveté, hovered herself next to Misato. Out of all of us, Star was being the personification of cute, dressed in her bright pink sleep shirt and white/pink sleeping pants and looking completely innocent (which is a bold-faced **_lie_**; you've never heard her speak of… well, that's another story). She looked at the can Misato was drinking from.

"Ye-bish-u?" she read. "What is this Ye-bish-shu?" Misato giggled and took up the can.  
"It's 'Yebisu', Starfire," she explained. "It's not for kids, by the way; it's my beer."

-

**Teen Titans: The Chosen  
Episode: 05 – A Transfer/Hocus Pocus**

-

"You… you can't have that in the Tower!" Robin shouted, pointing, his eyes wide. "There's underage people that live here!" Misato stuck her tongue out at us and continued sipping her drink.

"What is 'beer'?" Starfire asked.  
"Nothing important, Starfire," Raven mumbled, floating into the room (literally) and past Misato, who was busy mocking Robin, and preparing her morning tea.

"Yeah, nothing important," Misato agreed, setting the can down… then picking it back up before Starfire could taste-test it. "It's just part of my morning ritual… speaking of which, there's part two of my morning ritual!" She looked past us and smiled at Shinji, who stumbled into the room wearing black shorts and a blue shirt. He looked tired, like he hadn't gotten a good night's rest, but he still smiled weakly at Misato.

"Ohayo, Misato-san," he waved. "Kyou donna guai desu ka?"  
"Ohayo, Shinji-kun," Misato replied. "Tsukare, shikashi betsu no houhou de yoi," I blinked at the small exchange – Japanese was so _foreign_, and even while in Japan I thought it was like I was surrounded by aliens. "It's good to see you're okay, Shinji-kun,"

"Thanks," Shinji took a seat across from Misato and yawned, watching us as we filed into the room and took our normal seats. "Beast Boy's bed is really uncomfortable though," I blushed. "And he makes weird noises when he sleeps, too," My blush deepened. "And I think he was dreaming about-"

"Now hold it right there!" I shouted, my face probably redder than Starfire's hair. "What happens in my room stays in my room, okay?!"  
"Oh… really?" Misato asked, grinning. She rapidly grabbed Shinji and put him in a headlock. "So what'd you two do in there, huh? Huh?"  
"N-nothing, Misato-san!" Shinji replied, his eyes looking right at Misato's chest, of which his face was firmly planted next to. "We just talked about the past few days, that's all!"

Aw, you're no fun," Misato sighed, letting go of him. "I figured that a kid like Beast Boy here would've had a secret stash somewhere."  
"And just what are you implying?" Robin growled.  
"Oh, nothing…" Misato said 'innocently'. "Just saying, you know, this _is_ America."

"Oh, ha ha," I shot back, grinning. "You're a riot, Miss Misato."  
"Please, just Misato."  
"Oh, okay."

Misato flashed a smile at me, and I melted in my chair. Shinji smiled and leaned back in his seat, sighing. He seemed happy enough as the commotion around him settled; in fact, if I were poetic, I'd say he was a sign of calm in the raging storm that was the Titans' Tower. But I'm not, so I didn't… oh wait…

"Ohayo," a small voice whispered. Looking up, I nearly lost it; Rei had just kind of _appeared_, sitting next to Shinji and still wearing that damned schoolgirl uniform. I wondered if she had any other clothes other than that, but realized quickly that Rei was rather dull and didn't seem like the kind of girl to go shopping.

Starfire seemed to notice this, hovering above the pale girl and looking down at her. Rei seemed just as she did yesterday; her hair was the same, her clothes, and even her expression didn't seem to have been altered in any way. She wasn't happy or sad or-

"Quit staring, it's rude," Raven whispered next to me and causing me to almost jump out of my skin.  
"Miss Ayanami," Starfire began. "You must accompany me to the mall of shopping."  
"Why did you do that?" I said to Raven, glaring at her. "You know I can be jumpy in the mornings."  
"Nani?" Rei asked Starfire.  
"Because you were ogling Ayanami," Raven said to me. "That's rude."  
"I wish to… diversify your wardrobe," Starfire explained, slightly confused. She forgot that Rei couldn't speak English.  
"I wasn't staring at her like that," I argued. "Do I look like some kind of pervert?"

"…," Rei looked at Starfire, a strange look on her face. I think it was her version of confusion.  
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Raven asked. I blanched.  
Starfire sighed and floated away, disappointed. It was hard to speak with someone who couldn't speak your own language.

"I resent that," I growled at Raven.  
"No, you _represent_ it," chided Raven. I noticed the twitch of a smile at her lips… and dropped what little anger I had.

"Yeah, I guess…" I said, looking back at our house guests. "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"Hold on a second…" Raven stood up and walked over to the stove, where her standing morning tea had finished. I watched her as she walked; the way her hair bounced, the way her arms swung, the way her hips swayed- "You better watch it, I can read your emotions," Raven looked back at me and cocked an eyebrow. "Pervert."

"I can't help it, I'm a guy!" I shouted… and looking over, from the blush on Shinji's face, I saw that he had been watching her too… because he had screamed the same thing. I sat back down and snickered to myself, keeping it low. Shinji looked over at me and smiled, embarrassed.

"Ugh, I'm going to my room," Robin suddenly muttered, standing up and walking out of the room. Starfire stared after him, looked back at us, and went to go chase after him. I sighed as I watched them go; again with the anger, Robin had.

"Damn," Misato said, not once looking from her Yebisu. "Who shoved a stick up _his_ ass?"  
"That's not nice, Misato-san," Shinji said. "Robin's been willing to put up with us this far, so maybe we should be nice to him?"  
"Ha, that's alright," Cyborg said from the kitchen, working on breakfast. "Robin'll get over it. Last time someone overrode his authority, he was pissed about it for a week; he'll get over it."

"Oh…"  
Misato tossed the empty can in the garbage and stood up, stretching and offering me a good view of her belly. I blushed.  
"Well, as fun as it's been," she began. "I'll be late if I don't go _now_."  
"What about breakfast?" Cyborg asked her.  
"I'll take a rain check on that," Misato told him. "I'll be gone until late tonight, so please take care of Shinji-kun and Rei-chan for me,"  
"Misato-san…" Shinji muttered, looking embarrassed. "I can take care of myself."  
"I know," Misato said, grinning as she began to walk out. "But I still want them to watch after you, okay? Maybe they'll show you around. Ja ne, Titans!"

"Bye!" I shouted, waving, slightly disappointed to see her go… okay, more than slightly disappointed. "Oh, man, what a woman."  
"Didn't I tell you to watch it?" Raven asked me, setting down a cup of tea in front of Rei and Shinji. Both nodded thanks in unison… weird… and took the cups. "I told you that you already have a woman."

"I know," I said. "So I wonder where we should go today… you know, if it's just us and them," I gestured toward Shinji and Rei. "What about you two? What would you like to do?"

"Oh, whatever," Shinji said, smiling. "You and the others know this city, so you can tell us where to go."  
"We could take them to the park," Cyborg suggested as he finished cooking the last batch of pancakes. "They just built that new basketball court, so we could play that."  
"Uh, Shinji doesn't look like the basketball-type," I said.  
"Actually, I like it," Shinji replied, smiling. "My friend Touji taught me the game, and I was getting pretty good at it."

"Well, while you boys play, I guess I could take Ayanami around too," Raven offered. "She's a quiet girl, so I can think of a few places she might like."  
"Places she might like," I began. "Or places that _you_ like?"  
"It might be the same thing, you know," Raven told me. "I think I have a translation spell for talking with her, so we'll be fine."

"Does that sound okay?" I asked Shinji and Rei. Shinji nodded, but Rei remained neutral. "Alright, then we'll do that!" I hopped up on the table and pointed to the sky in a dramatic pose. "Today, we hit the city!"

"That's very nice, now eat your breakfast."  
"Damnit, alright…"

-

Okay, first off, there's a reason you find us in the park a lot.

For one, it's a spot of beauty in a city ruled by metal. For two, it's huge and expansive, second only to New York's Central Park and about twenty times friendlier. Not only is there a huge main area, with trees and a pond and paths you can walk on, but there's a basketball court and a tennis court, and a few other open areas to play sports in.

Normally, you'd find a lot of people in the park. But since today was a school day (it was still 1:00, I think), and a lot of people were still at work, so the park was pretty quiet. Except for the occasional college student studying or elderly couples wandering the park, me, Shinji, and Cyborg were the only people there.

And Shinji was kicking my ass.

"No!" I shouted as the ball went through the net.  
"Oh, and another point goes to the Third Child!" Cyborg shouted. "Looks like its 4-1 in Shinji's favor! Man, if I knew you sucked this bad, BB, I would've been playing with Raven!"

"Shut up!" I shouted, taking the ball and dribbling it down the court. I sprinted toward Shinji and juked, zigging and zagging past him. Shinji was quick to react, and before I knew it he was shouting a "thank you" at me as he took the ball right from under me. With a clear line to the goal, Shinji bounded with a 1 2 3 and shot, getting all net and giving him the fifth, winning point.

"And BB is out of the game!" Cyborg hollered, holding up a banner that said "Shinji wins, crushing his opponent like a bug… which is hilarious, because his opponent can _turn into_ a bug!"

"I'm never turning into an insect again," I muttered as I sat down on the bench, taking hold of a water bottle I had the foresight to bring. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I grabbed a towel and dried myself off. Shinji was _damn_ good.

"Your turn, Cyborg?" Shinji offered, passing Cy the ball.  
"You're on!" Cyborg replied, grinning. "I'm not easy like BB, so you'll have to actually prove yourself!"  
"If you say so…" Shinji smiled and the two met in the middle of the court.

As their game began, I thought about how it must be like; Shinji was alone over here when it came to kids his age – Ayanami not counting – but somehow he found it easy to forget about that and focus on the friends he had here. And wasn't that what we Titans were to him? In just three short days, Shinji had already become pretty good friends with me. And he was also full of surprises, I noted, as I watched him steal the ball from Cyborg and ducking between his legs, taking a shot from half-court and bouncing it off the backboard into the net.

Shinji Ikari… I wondered if his name meant anything. In Japan, I learned that names weren't just names; they were identified with something, some characteristic or other or some object or meaning. Maybe it meant "innocence" or something, because the way he smiled and acted as he seemed to let Cyborg get a point… but what kind of innocence would let you pilot a 200-foot tall giant robot?

Dualities of Shinji Ikari… or something. I remembered the fight with the Angel vividly now. I remembered how Shinji… or Unit-01… something… had charged, knife in hand in an attempt to save Rei and destroy that green monster. I also remembered – vaguely, but still – the fury of Eva Unit-01 as it ripped apart the Angel.

I shook my head of the thoughts. Today was no time to be pondering the mysteries of my new friend, but to enjoy a game of basketball. It was easy, too; Shinji was good, _real_ good, and he showed it as he seemed to slide past Cyborg's defense like water, taking the shot and making it, tallying the score up to 2-1.

"Damnit, boy!" Cyborg shouted, his face amused. "I'll show you what it's like to score, just watch!" He grabbed the ball and jumped _over_ Shinji, stamped the pavement twice with his big boots, and jumped back in the air, dunking it in a classic Michael Jordan-style point.

"Wow, that's pretty good," Shinji admitted, an impressed look on his face. "But I don't need size to beat you, you know…" With that, he ran the ball down the court before shooting it right at Cyborg. The ball sailed through the air, bounced off of Cyborg's head, and back at Shinji. Before my buddy had a chance to recover, Shinji had caught the ball and shot it from the foul line.

_Swish_.

I gawked. "And just who was your teacher, Shinji?" I asked.  
"My friend, Touji Suzuhara," replied the Third Child. "He's the star athlete of my school," he paused. "It's called Tokyo First Municipal Junior High School," he smiled as he thought back. "Touji's like you in a way, Cyborg… he lost in left arm and leg in an accident a long time ago, and they gave him prosthetics… well, Gehirn did, anyway."

"Gehirn? You mean what…" I paused.  
"Yeah, same one," Shinji replied. "His father works for Gehirn… he's a doctor or something… and because he's so high up they let him have the new limbs for free."  
"That's pretty amazing," I said, thinking about it.

"Yeah, you're telling me," Shinji grinned. "No one can catch him on the court, and he can hit the backboard from anywhere… and that was _after _the accident. He hopes to come to America after he graduates to play professional."

"I bet he could if he's as good as you say he is," Cyborg offered.  
"Yeah…" Shinji sat down next to me and sighed. "I hope he does well…"  
"…you miss him." I said.

"Not just him," Shinji said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "But Kensuke and Hikari, too," he smiled. "I kinda liked Hikari… she's a really nice girl, even if can be a bit bossy sometimes." I snickered.

"So you left your long lost love back in Tokyo?" I asked jokingly.  
"Oh, not like that," Shinji replied.

"Yeah, I bet," Cyborg went on. "I bet you two were…" he grinned darkly. "Doin' it like monkeys, right?"  
"N-no!" Shinji denied loudly. "It wasn't like that! Besides, she was crazy about Touji anyway… she didn't really look at me like _that_…" he shrugged.

"But I don't mind being here," he said. "I know they're alright without me, and I know that I have to stay here." He sighed and passed me the ball. "But never mind that… we got a game to play!"

I smiled. "Okay, Shinji…" I thought to myself, I'll let you not think about it.

-

"So when did you find out you were… uh, chosen?" I asked Shinji.  
We stopped playing basketball, and now I and Shinji and Cyborg were relaxing at a different place in the park. It had been a couple of hours, and I was starting to get worried about Raven; she hadn't called in or anything, and when I called her she told me that she was busy and couldn't talk. Raven _never_ said that, so yeah, I was worried.

…Not that I would _admit_ that to the others.

"Almost three weeks ago," Shinji explained. "I was at school when they called me and Ayanami to the office. We met Doctor Akagi and Misato-san there, and it was there that we were told of our… gift, I guess."

"So Ayanami went to the same school as you?" Cyborg asked.  
"Yeah," Shinji said, nodding. "We didn't really talk, though; she's always been quiet and distant, and she never showed up for school half the time, anyway. She never did really well, I think; I remember the teacher saying she was doing just enough work to pass every year, and apparently she's been doing that since the fifth grade."

"So she's not smart?" I asked; Rei seemed like a really intelligent girl.  
"I'm not sure," Shinji admitted. "Like I said, she's really quiet, so it's hard to figure out how smart she is. But I think… I think that she already knew she was the First Child."

"You see," he continued, taking a sip from a can of Sprite. "When they told me all that stuff – about being the last hope of mankind, piloting a giant robot, and all that – I was shocked. But Ayanami… she didn't flinch… she didn't deny or abhor it… she simply said, 'yes, Doctor Akagi'. And sometimes, when I was training at Gehirn Number Three in Tokyo… Father and Ayanami would walk down the halls together, talking to each other," his eyes flinched. "Come to think of it, after we were selected, the two were never apart."

I thought about that; seeing my own father favoring a complete stranger over me. How would I feel? What would I do? I sipped my cola and continued to listen.  
"Not only that," Cyborg said. "But she can control force fields on her own."

"You mean the AT Field?" Shinji asked. Cyborg nodded. "Well, according to Doctor Akagi, Ayanami is more 'in-tune' with her gift than me, and she can actually create and manipulate AT Fields at will. I mean, compared to many super heroes I've heard of or even seen, that's not a lot… but you haven't seen what she can do with those things."

Shinji opened his mouth to continue, but a beep, like from Star Trek, came from my communicator. Cursing under my breath, I picked it up and opened it just as Cyborg opened his. On the screen revealed Robin's masked and somewhat annoyed-looking face.

"We've got trouble," he said. "And it's heading for the park with now."  
"What is it?" Cyborg asked.  
"It looks like Mumbo," Robin explained, checking something. Behind him, Starfire was… locking her gauntlets in place? Well, that's what it looked like, anyway. "He's creating a path right to you guys, so watch out."

"Mumbo, is that it?" Cyborg asked. "Man, you know we can handle Mumbo."  
My ears twitched. I looked up to swat at whatever might be attacking my ears… and paused. I stared up at what my eyes had locked on to and felt myself start to lose blood in my head. I stared at the massive object as it approached the three of us.

"What about…" I began. "What about _that?_" I pointed up, dropping my communicator. Shinji looked up and yelped in surprise, taking himself and moving it behind Cyborg, who simply stared.

"Yes, what about this?" Shouted a voice. Standing on top of a thirty-foot tall version of himself was Mumbo Jumbo, the criminal wizard. "You see, I was so inspired by the amazing performance of those giant machines yesterday, I just had to go get my own!" Both Mumbo and his giant-self lifted their wands and pointed them at us. "MUMBO… JUMBO!!"

Two massive streams of water hurled toward us. Shinji screamed and I prepared to morph.

-

**Teen Titans: The Chosen  
Episode: 05 – Hocus Pocus**

-

I decided against morphing into something big and let instinct take over. What this meant was that I cowered in fear like a little girl and screamed. Shinji took cover behind Cyborg, who did his best to shield the Third Child from the huge jet stream of water.

I only barely noticed the quiet steps as they walked up, or the pale hands that reached into the air and faced the jet stream. I did, however, hear the rush of air as it was moved aside, and the dusk-glow shimmer of a hexagonal energy field. Looking up, I saw that Rei had appeared, holding her hands in the air and shielding us from the blast of water.

"O-ho!" Mumbo shouted from his perch. "It looks like the other pilot has appeared!" he pointed with his wand, and the giant copy mimicked the move. "Well, little girl, lets see how long you can protect your friends from fire! ABRA! KADABRA!" As promised, Mumbo turned the two wands into flamethrowers, and we were attacked by a huge tidal wave of fire.

Rei couldn't react to the change in power well, and she lost her concentration as she fell to the ground, unbalanced by the surge of power. But a millimeter before the fire reached us, we were engulfed by a black energy field that I recognized all-too-well. A bird-like shadow came up out of the ground and deposited Raven, her eyes grey with power.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos!" she shouted, deflecting the fire onto an unfortunate tree.  
"What is this?!" Shinji shouted/asked.  
"Just a little black magic," Raven growled. She twisted her energy field with her hands and thrust it upward, flying as a beam toward Mumbo, who just barely jumped out of the way.

"M-magic?!" Shinji screamed. "How is that possible?!"  
"You pilot a 60-meter tall giant robot and fight Angels!" I hollered back as I tracked Mumbo in the sky. "This is nothing!" I flinched and lost him, just as the giant Mumbo started shooting electricity from its eyeballs. Raven put up a shield just in time, giving us cover again. I looked over at Cyborg, who had raised his sonic cannon and was aiming carefully for the right shot. Raven lifted her shield slightly to the left, causing the electricity to deflect into the sky, and giving Cyborg a clear shot.

"Got it!" he shouted. There was a whirring sound, then a blast of energy from the cannon itself. The white/blue beam slammed into the Mumbo-giant, forcing it backward a few steps. But Mumbo himself was there, casting a counter-spell to Raven's shield spell with his wand, and shooting a bolt of water at us again.

This time the jet stream was deflected by emerald energy that came from the sky. Looking up, I saw Starfire and Robin coming in fast, with Starfire firing bolts of light from her eyes and Robin hurling shuriken from his belt and carrying something in his arms… well, trying to. As we neared the ground, he dropped it. The huge object fell with a thud in the ground.

I recognized the box as the one Cyborg called "human-sized". It was huge and made of steel, and the NERV Logo was plastered on the side of it, along with the word **F-CROSS**. I tore my eyes away from it to look at Mumbo, who had somehow made it back on top of his robot. "Ayanami!" I shouted, pointing at the box. The albino girl looked over and nodded at me, breaking into a run and toward the box. She touched a panel on the side, and it opened up for her.

As Rei stepped inside, I quickly morphed into a hawk and took to the air with Raven and Starfire. I circled around, trying to get a good Angle of Attack, something I could use to get the drop on Mumbo, literally. The mad wizard saw my attack and fired off various objects at me to make me move, but I was nimble enough to dodge.

I twirled in midair as I passed Mumbo and morphed into a tiger. I landed on all fours and roared at the wizard, who recoiled in fright. I leaped at him, but apparently the fright was mocking, because I found myself at the business end of the giant's wand. I leaped out of the way, avoiding a burst of energy from the wand, and fell toward the ground. On instinct, I morphed into my dactyl form and flared my wings, keeping myself from becoming a pancake on the ground. The giant lifted a foot and tried to stomp me with it, but I morphed into a wolf and leaped out of the way, howling.

I morphed back into a human next to Cyborg, who was firing at the giant-Mumbo with twin sonic cannons.

"That thing is just absorbing this!" he shouted.  
"Can't you find a weak point?" I asked him, watching as Raven and Starfire fired bolts of energy at Mumbo, bolts which were deflected easily by his magic wand. The giant pointed at Raven and fired a blast of red energy, but Starfire tackled her mid-air and pushed them both out of the way.

"There's a jamming device in the hat," Cyborg told me. "It's the only thing my sensors can pick up, so we'll have to get rid of it."  
"On it!" I said, running off to Robin as Cyborg covered Shinji and fired off a few more bursts. I caught up to Robin as he was readying a grappling hook. "Cy says the hat's got a jammer."

"All right," Robin said, nodding. "You push it off, and I'll get rid of it." I nodded and morphed into dactyl form, taking wing and flying high into the air.  
"ALAKAZAM!" Mumbo shouted, firing off red beams left and right, using his giant-Mumbo to lay down enough fire to take out a small army. It was good that we were better than an Army, though; as I flew upward, I shifted between flight forms to keep Mumbo from hitting me, using each one's advantage to keep myself alive.

I ducked a blast, which flew toward Raven, who deflected the blast… which sent it flying into the NERV box.

I landed on top of the robot's hat and morphed into human. "_Ayanami!_"  
The box exploded in a burst of metal shards and fire. Cyborg grabbed Shinji and tossed him behind a tree while using his metal parts to shield his human ones. Raven barely erected a black shield, and the rest of us were safe from harm. "_Ayanami!_"

"Well, that went well," Mumbo mumbled, aiming his wand at me. "Now, why don't you join her? _Hocus Pocus!_" A red beam of light shot out at me, too fast for words to describe. I screamed and covered my face, waiting for the inevitable.

An inevitable which, I'm glad to say, never came. Just as I would've been turned into Beast Boy-burgers, an AT field appeared in front of me, blocking the attack and simultaneously severing the hat in half. I barely had time to leap off and roll along the robot's shoulders, ending up next to Robin as the gigantic hat fell off in halves to the ground. Mumbo looked shocked, confused, but quickly regained his customary smirk.

I looked down at the ground. Looking back up at me, dressed in orange from the looks of it, Rei Ayanami stood amidst the ruined coffin/box. With a flick of her hand, she lifted up and flew toward me and Robin.

"Looks like we have help," he muttered as he drew his Bo Staff, ready to close in and finish Mumbo off.  
"Oh, on the contrary!" Mumbo shouted from across the giant-Mumbo as he landed on its head. "The fun is just beginning, my friends!" he flicked his wand at Raven's general direction, and from under her a massive set of vines shot out of the ground, entangling her. With a word and a tap from his wand, the tree that Shinji was hiding behind came to life and captured him in its roots and used its branches to hold Cyborg down. Starfire, from her position up high, charged Mumbo… but ran right into its open hand.

As Rei approached, I noticed the giant's wand pointing up at her. She didn't seem to notice, but as Mumbo began to speak, Rei simply blinked, causing an AT Field to slice the giant's wand-arm off at the elbow effortlessly. She landed on the same shoulder as me and Robin, giving us a good view of her armor.

She looked like a mini-Evangelion, dressed up in orange armor and looking a lot like Unit-00; the shoulders even read in LED lights as "EVA 0". The arms read a different phrase – "F-CROSS 00". Another difference was the area around her breasts and hips, which were gray instead of orange like Unit-00.

"_Shinpoteki Yari,_" Rei whispered. From a unit on her waist, a six-inch red shaft of metal appeared. Taking it from her waist, she looked at me and Robin briefly before holding it out in front of her. From that little piece of metal came… well, _untwisted_… a six-foot two-pronged spear. The ends of the red spear began to vibrate rapidly and glow blue.

"_Progressive Spear, active,"_ a digitized female voice in Rei's suit confirmed in English. "_**F**irst-**C**hild **R**apid **O**ffensive **S**ingularity **S**uit, set up. Ready._"

Mumbo looked anxious as he backed up along the giant's shoulders. Rei turned to face him and pointed the spear at him.  
"Uh, can't we talk about this?" he asked us. Robin ran toward him, leaped up and on top of the head, and looked Mumbo in the eye.  
"No, we can't." he growled. Mumbo glanced between the three of us, nervous… but clicked his tongue.

"I had hoped it wouldn't come to this!" he shouted. "Alakazam!" he waved his wand, causing a weird portal thing to open up in front of him. Robin readied himself and I shifted into a fox form, slinking along the neck of the Mumbo-giant to the portal. Ayanami walked ahead slowly, spear at the ready.

But none of us could expect the Slade Droid as it burst from the opening, followed by three more, and then three more after that, and then _six _more after that. One of them almost landed on top of me, forcing me off the giant and making me shift into falcon form. I screeched and flew up, landing on the head and down at a cocky-looking Mumbo.

"Dude, what is going on?!" I shouted.  
"This looks bad…" Robin muttered. "Why is Slade helping Mumbo, of all people?" His question wasn't answered as three droids jumped me and Robin, forcing us on the defensive. A Droid slashed at me, but I ducked it and morphed into raptor form, twisted, and tail-whipped the sucker off the giant. Robin jumped forward, catching two robots with his Bo Staff. He used them as levers to force himself higher into the air, taking the Staff with him and knocking those robots off the edge, too.

I hopped down on the opposing shoulder a second before Robin did, shifted into tiger form, and coiled my muscles. I pounced at Mumbo as he ducked behind a Slade Droid, leaped onto the robot, and took it to the ground. Robin used me as a springboard, raising his staff high as he fell down on the criminal Wizard. Mumbo raised his wand to block it, and Robin was forced back by a large _crack_ sound and a red energy field. Robin rolled in midair and landed on his feet.

Ayanami walked past us, holding up the spear as her face twisted into something that was similar to a feral anger. She growled and ran forward, spear pointed ahead. Mumbo stared at her before raising his energy field with a wave of his wand, forcing her just inches away from him.

"_Cross armor, assault mode. Set up. Ready."_ Chirped the F-Cross. Rei's red eyes gleamed as a crackle of electricity shot across her armor from a battery unit on the back. She raised her spear and thrust it _into_ Mumbo's field, trying to force her way through it. Mumbo smirked and stuck his tongue out at us.

"Can't get through it, can ya?" he mocked. "Well, looks like I win."  
"I don't think so!" Robin shouted as he pulled out two birdarangs and smacked them together, forming a red-bladed sword. He ran up and sliced the sword into Mumbo's force field, shooting red lightning through the blade and into Robin. The Boy Wonder screamed.

I simply stared at the two as they worked together to break the energy field. They couldn't get through it alone, but the six of us working together might do it, I decided. I looked down at my friends as they struggled with their bonds, unsure. What would Robin do?

I looked down and found that Robin had dropped his Bo Staff carelessly on the shoulder of the Mumbo giant. I grinned and picked it up before taking a deep breath and jumping off of the Mumbo giant.

I immediately regretted it, but there wasn't anything I could do now. I fell toward Starfire, held out the Staff, and aimed carefully. Starfire stopped fighting the giant hand she was in and looked up at me, a serious expression on her face as I readied to make careful adjustments. Like an expert artist, I slid the staff right between Star and the hand, used my momentum, and together with an eye blast and push from Starfire, we broke the hand apart… along with Robin's staff.

I was free falling now, unarmed, and morphed into a hawk mid-fall. Starfire flew like a bullet to Shinji and Cyborg while I made a beeline for Raven. As I hit the ground, I morphed back into a tiger and used my claws to slice apart the entangling vines.

"Thanks," muttered the Wizard as I morphed into human form.  
"No problem," I replied, grinning at her. "Are you okay?"  
"I'm fine," Raven replied, pulling up her hood. "Just have a score to settle now." My grin turned into a smirk.  
"Then let's go settle it."

I morphed into falcon form and flew upward toward Robin and the others. With Star's help, Cyborg and Shinji broke free of their tree. Shinji hid behind a potentially less-dangerous object while Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven went full force on the giant Mumbo, firing a combined blast at its face. The robot stumbled and began to tip over as I flew up and landed on the shoulder, turned into a gorilla, and joined Rei and Robin in their attack.

Mumbo encased himself in an energy field totally, meaning that it was like a bubble of red energy around him. I began to pound on the field, which I found out was a _bad idea_; every hit shocked me, and it _hurt_. I roared in Gorilla and picked up a Slade Droid to hurl it at the field; maybe overload it or something, I don't know. But it seemed like a good idea. I bounded over to a fallen Slade Droid and picked it up before it slid over the edge.

With a huge heave that would make Superman proud, I launched the Slade Droid and morphed into dactyl form. The Slade Droid slammed head-first into the red field, sending sparks every which way. I flew over and grabbed Robin a second before the giant tipped over finally, falling to the ground slowly and hitting with a huge _crunch_ sound that sent shivers through my airborne body. I looked around for Rei, and found her standing atop her own AT-Field, still on the offensive as Mumbo stood on the bottom of his energy field, mocking us.

I dropped Robin on the ground and shifted to human form.  
"We can't leave her alone!" I said. "Now what?!"  
"You stay here," Robin ordered. "Cyborg, you and the others give everything you got against that energy field around him; try to take it out!"  
"Got it," Cyborg replied. "Titans, Go!"

Starfire and Raven took to the skies while Robin and I watched from the ground. Cyborg took three huge leaps and ended up right under the red field, pointed up, and fired his sonic cannons. Raven let loose with her black telekinesis and Starfire started launching Starbolts from her hands. Rei, meanwhile, continued to try and push through, unperturbed by silly notions like pain.

Shinji snuck around and ended up between me and Robin as he watched the spectacle unfold.

"You'll have to watch her," he told us.  
"Who? Ayanami?" I asked. Shinji nodded.

"She'll kill him if you don't watch her."

Robin and I looked at each other and let the thought run through our minds before it clicked. About that time, the energy field _finally_ collapsed with a sonic boom, blasting everyone back or down. It slammed me and Shinji on our asses, but Robin just rolled with it. Raven and Starfire plummeted into the ground, and Rei used her AT-Field to halt her fall. Cyborg was the only one not hurt by it, as he still stood and waiting for the smoke to clear.

When the smoke finally cleared, Mumbo's smirk was gone. In fact, _Mumbo_ was gone. In his place was an old, gray-headed man who was the _real_ Mumbo; an ex-magician who found some dark power to become a criminal. He fell toward the ground screaming, but Cyborg caught him. The lot of us recovered and ran up, surrounding him. Cyborg set him down on the ground and backed up a few steps, his arms crossed.

"You've lost," Robin told him. "It's time for you to head back to jail, Mumbo."

"Damnit, and I was _so close_ this time," the old man whined. "Next time, Titans, it'll be _me_ who wins!"

The sound of sirens in the distance let us know that the cops were well on their way as Robin handcuffed Mumbo and set him forcefully on the ground. I began to scan the skies for Rei, wondering where she had gone. She had this amazing habit, I noticed, of disappearing. I finally spotted her near Shinji, talking to him, and smiled – it looked like she wanted to check on him. Cute.

As I walked back toward them, Rei suddenly sprang into action. She clutched her spear in one hand and turned around, going full sprint. She blew past me and toward the others, shoved them out of the way with her AT-Field, and went right for Mumbo.

The criminal screamed as he found his neck between two rapidly vibrating spear points which had shoved into the ground, meaning that Mumbo himself was now flat on his back.

"Ahhh! Someone, help me!" he screamed. We ran up to the incident and started shouting at Rei, telling her to stop. She looked up at us, her face blank and uncaring, before reassuming that wrathful look and planting a foot on one of the spear's prongs, shoving it deeper in the ground and causing Mumbo to begin praying for his life.

"Ayanami! What are you doing?!" Robin shouted, picking up his red sword and pointing it at her threateningly. "Stop it, now!" She once again looked up at us, this time her look more confused, but then ignored us and continued killing Mumbo. I groaned in annoyance and shifted into gorilla form, came up behind Rei, and grabbed her by the waist in my huge hands. Rei gasped in surprise as I lifted her and her armored body and set her down next to the spear. Robin grabbed the spear and yanked it out of the ground, tossing it aside.

Rei looked at the lot of us. Robin dropped his sword and looked annoyed, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow at her. The others gave her generally worried or (in Starfire's case) frightened looks, and I shifted into human form and put a hand on Rei's shoulder.

"You can't go around killing people," I told her, nevermind that she probably didn't understand me. "That's not how we work."  
Rei just stared at us, a confused look on her face. She said something to us in Japanese, but I didn't catch it.  
"She says that she doesn't understand," Shinji said as he walked up, looking totally unsurprised – and to be honest, he _did_ warn us. "He's the enemy; you kill the enemy, she says."  
"Well, we don't do that here," Robin said. "We arrest our enemies here." Shinji translated for Rei, who only seemed to become even more confused, and spoke to Shinji.

"…yeah, she doesn't get it," he said. "She's been trained to kill all of her enemies; man or Angel, it doesn't matter."  
"Tell her to just worry about killing Angels," I told Shinji. "Here, we'll focus on arrest and capture, okay?" Shinji nodded and translated, who slowly seemed to get it and nodded. She bowed low to us before reaching for a wrist unit and clicking something.

"_F-Cross armor, shut down."_ The armor chimed. With that, a seal along the back of the armor hissed open and the battery pack lifted up and moved aside. Rei struggled a minute, but eventually slipped out of the armor, dressed in her white uniform. The armor closed and hissed, sealed, and shut off; the LED lights along the arms and shoulders shut off as well. She looked at us, then back at Mumbo, silent.

-

"Man, that – was – close!" I said.

Hours later, we were lounging around the Tower, doing absolutely nothing. It was Raven's turn to find something to eat, so we were stuck waiting on Chinese take-out (which was her favorite) via the Raven Delivery Service and watching TV. Starfire wanted to go, and Raven said that she "wasn't going to leave Rei around with a pervert like Beast Boy" (which I'm _not_), so they took Ayanami as well. This left four bored guys sitting around the rec room.

"Yeah, but we won," Cyborg replied, sitting down and taking a swig of Gatorade. "Ha, who thought a game of basketball would turn into a fight?"  
"Well, I thought it was neat to see you guys fight," Shinji said from the chair as he stared at the TV. "I've never been protected before."  
"Hey, man, that's our job," Robin told him, checking his watch as he sat down next to me and Cyborg. "We protect the innocent; besides, we're even now."  
"Even?" Shinji asked.

"You saved humanity from the Angel, we saved you from Mumbo," Robin explained, grinning.  
Somehow, I didn't think that was a fair trade.

"Oh, I get it," Shinji said. "So does that mean every Angel I kill gives me a favor?" a sort-of grin appeared on his face.  
"If you look at it that way," Robin said, chuckling.  
"…_anything_ I want?"

"Well, not any-" Robin began. "Wait, where are we going with this?!"  
"I always wanted to go on a date with Raven," Shinji said, a smirk on his face.  
"H-hey!" I shouted, surprised at my own outburst. "That's something you'll have to take up with her!" Shinji laughed at me.  
"It's a joke, Beast Boy," he said. "You know, _joke_. Something you're good at, right?"

I paused, blinked, and grinned. Robin assumed a similar grin.  
"That does it," We said. "You're goin' down, Shinji Ikari!" Together, we jumped the chair and tackled Shinji, sending him, the chair, and ourselves to the floor. Our laughter echoed in the Tower; my high-pitched laughter, Robin's healthy chuckle, Cyborg's loud guffaw, and Shinji's own light, quiet laughter as he play-fought and… well, generally made _boys_ outta ourselves.

Until next time, I guess.

**To Be Continued**

-

_As things finally settle down for the Titans, things start to pick up for the NERV branch of Gehirn. With the import of personnel and equipment, Shinji has little time to adjust to his new home between a battery of synchronization tests and having to deal with everything else. He doesn't think he'll crack under the pressure; he thinks he'll crack under the Titans' excessive teasing! Next Time on Teen Titans: The Chosen – Bridge Bunnies/Don't Panic! Shinji-kun, things are just starting; don't give up now!_

Author's Titan-Related Drivel: There's a certain balance I'm on; the balance between working with the new characters and integrating them into the story, and the balance of keeping the Titans (Beast Boy in particular, obviously) a prominent part of the story. Don't expect many of the other Titans to show up except for the Primary Five because the others have never really caught my interest, nor have I ever watched Season Five in its entirety.  
_  
_Author's EVA-Related Drivel: So EVA fans will probably be jumping down my throat about now, considering Rei's sudden "super-powered-ness". My defense is simple; I wanted one or more of the Children to be heavily involved in the Titans' encounters with their enemies just as the Titans themselves are involved in the Eva vs. Angel fights. The "F-CROSS" armor is something I made up just for this purpose .

This isn't the first, and certainly won't be the last way I make major modifications to the storyline of EVA (you've already seen more than a few), so those of you who are familiar with the series can be just on your toes as those who aren't.

Author's Final Note: I have issues responding to reviews, but be assured, I AM listening and commenting in my notes.

So... just HOW many bullets are in a Pallet Rifle?


End file.
